The guy who pretended to be a cop along Hwy. 212 in Carver County on Tuesday morning probably doesn’t have much of a future doing impersonations.
By Norman Draper
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Related: Protecting the public from LE impersonators
The guy who pretended to be a cop along Hwy. 212 in Carver County on Tuesday morning probably doesn’t have much of a future doing impersonations.
He flashed his headlights at a woman driving along the highway near Cologne about 5:10 a.m., causing her to pull over. After she stopped, he walked over to her car and asked to see her driver’s license and registration. Not only was the guy not a police officer, but he hadn’t gone to much effort to resemble one. According to Carver County Sheriff Bud Olson, the man had long hair and was wearing a black T-shirt and dark shorts. He was driving a white SUV with no rack of flashing lights and not so much as a single faux police marking.
“She was suspicious,” said Olson of the driver, who drove off and called police.
Sheriff’s deputies spotted the vehicle later in the morning and gave chase. The driver got out and ran into a wooded area bordering the Minnesota River, where he was caught by deputies and Chaska police officers. Police soon discovered that the SUV was stolen in Redwood County.
Olson said the ersatz police officer was a 40-year-old Minneapolis man. He was being held in the Carver County jail on suspicion of fleeing a police officer, possession of a stolen vehicle and, of course, impersonating an officer, Olson said.
Copyright 2007 Minneapolis Star-Tribune