By Charles Rabin
Miami Herald
MIAMI — Marcos Pacheco-Bustamante’s impersonations need some work. His observation skills, they could use a little polishing up, too.
On Friday morning, in what police described as a poor attempt to imitate a police officer, Pacheco-Bustamante set a blue siren atop his cop-like Ford Crown Victoria and turned it on. He was signaling for the SUV in front of him to pull over.
It did — and Pacheco-Bustamante got busted.
His mistake, other than not looking much like a cop: The man he pulled over in the unmarked SUV turned out to be Miami-Dade Detective Alton Martin, dressed in full uniform.
Almost as quickly as Martin and Pacheco-Bustamante got out of their vehicles, the cop wannabe was taken into custody. He was charged with falsely impersonating a police officer and jailed. His bond was set at $5,000.
“He indicated to detectives when interviewed that he’s done this before,” said Miami-Dade Detective Jennifer Capote.
Though Pacheco-Bustamante admitted to pulling others over before, he told police he did it with good intention: Usually, said the failed police impersonator, his victims were texting while driving or speeding.
On Friday after being hauled off to police headquarters in Doral, he offered no good explanation as to why he pulled Martin over on I-95 during rush hour and near the Northwest 119th Street exit ramp.
Before the dark green, 2000 Crown Victoria Pacheco-Bustamante was driving was towed, cops checked its interior for evidence. Wedged against the blue siren between the console and driver’s seat was an H&K plastic BB gun, a replica that Capote said “looks real.”
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