Alberta man pleads guilty to impersonating peace officer, forcible confinement charges

A St. Albert, Alta. man has pleaded guilty after being charged with impersonating a peace officer in the summer.

In two separate incidents on July 27 and July 29, victims reported to police that they were pulled over by a light-coloured SUV with red and blue lights. Both drivers reported a man who looked like an officer approached their vehicles, told them they had been pulled over for a traffic violation and asked for the driver’s licence, registration and insurance.

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Both incidents took place near Fawcett, Alta. and neither driver was injured.

Mark Andrew Capowski was arrested in August and charged with two counts of impersonating a peace officer.

He pleaded guilty to those charges in Westlock Provincial Court on Wednesday, along with one charge of forcible confinement.

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A spokesperson with the St. Albert RCMP couldn’t speak to the particulars of this case, but said the forcible confinement charge likely came from the fact that the driver felt that they were speaking to a person with authority when Capowski pulled them over and felt they couldn’t leave.

Similar charges were also laid by the Westlock RCMP.

Capowski received a suspended sentence, 40 hours of community service and one year of probation.