Police in Arizona have arrested a man accused of impersonating a police officer on multiple occasions and attempting to conduct roadside traffic stops.
According to the Tucson Police Department, the man went to great lengths to appear like an undercover officer, and even handcuffed a civilian during a faux “arrest.”
“The suspect carried a handheld scanner on his belt, a radio earpiece, and an expandable baton,” the department said in a statement. “He was driving a white four-door sedan with red and blue flashing lights installed near the visor of the front windshield.”
On Dec. 19, police responded to a call of suspicious activity after someone reported being stopped and searched by an unknown male who identified himself as a cop.
According to police, detectives from the Counter Narcotics Alliance were able to identify the suspect and he was arrested at his home. While conducting a search of his residence, police obtained a dashboard camera from inside his vehicle which documented his activities.
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In the video, we see the man conducting a series of roadside stops, using the lights of his vehicle to pull other motorists over. While the content of their conversations is not heard by his camera, police allege the suspect asked motorists if they had any drugs on them.
At one point, he even put a pair of handcuffs on a citizen during one of these stops. Embarrassingly for him (and unfortunately for his alleged victim), KVOA-TV News in Arizona reports that he was unable to remove the handcuffs from the man, directing him to go to the nearest police station to have them removed.
The man now faces charges of kidnapping, and impersonating a law enforcement officer.
In Canada, as in Arizona, all police officers (even undercover officers) conducting a traffic stop or arrest will have proper police identification that can be verified with a call to 911.