By Matt Goodman
The Dallas Morning News
RICHLAND HILLS, Tex. — Richland Hills police were investigating Thursday whether a report of a man impersonating a police officer this week is related to an incident in January.
At 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, a man in a white station wagon with flashing blue and red lights on the dashboard pulled over a driver in the 7000 block of Hovenkamp Avenue, Richland Hills police said.
The man did not display a badge but appeared to be dressed as a police officer, wearing a dark-blue polo shirt, a dark-colored baseball hat and a police-style duty belt with handcuffs and a holstered semi-automatic handgun.
The suspect asked the driver for his license and then grabbed the man’s wallet as he was pulling it out, police said. The wallet was torn and some of the contents spilled into the street as the driver accelerated with the suspect’s hand and arm still inside the vehicle.
The suspect pulled his arm away, got in his car and followed the driver north on Vance Road and at one point almost slammed into the victim’s vehicle, police said. The driver then went home to report the incident. Police searched the area but were unable to find the impersonator.
The suspect was described as a black man, more than 6 feet tall and in his 50s. He has a tattoo of a lightning bolt on his left wrist in black ink. His vehicle was possibly a Chevrolet Caprice with no markings.
Richland Hills officials were not sure if this was related to a Jan. 23 incident when a man impersonated a police officer during a North Richland Hills traffic stop.
Copyright 2008 The Dallas Morning News