Argument over penny turns into chaos at Brooklyn store

FORT GREENE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Joyce Fields was furious as she knocked merchandise off the counter, and broke the cash register inside the Saba Grocery Store on Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn. However, the entire tirade might have been forgotten, but Fields is accused of saying, 'I am the police!'

But Fields, 48, actually is a retired corrections officer. So now, instead of being charged only with criminal mischief, she faces charges of impersonating a police officer.

And the argument was over a single penny.

"She said 'why you put the penny on the table?' No, too late," said store owner Zaid Ali Bin Hadi.

Bin Hadi gave her a penny, but Fields then trashed the counter, and smacked the cash register. Seconds later, she started knocking over more merchandise.

On the surveillance video, when Bin Hadi gets his phone to call police, Fields says 'I am the police'. She appears to lift her middle finger and again, starts knocking over merchandise before finally leaving the store.

Fields retired as a corrections officer in April.