Chatham County deputies are working to identify the man who impersonated a law enforcement officer during a traffic stop.
They say the man pulled another driver over and demanded cash to avoid a ticket.
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Deputies say the man wore what looked like a law enforcement uniform and drove a car with emergency-style red and blue lights. He did not ask the other driver for identification.
“It happens. You get these folks that, for whatever reason, want to be the police. It's dangerous. It's dangerous for them; it's dangerous for the citizens that had this encounter,” Chief Deputy Steve Maynor told WRAL.
He said the office has not received any other impersonation reports.
Maynor said the driver realized something was off really quickly and reported it to the sheriff’s office immediately after it happened. He pointed out a few red flags in this situation:
- The suspect did not ask for identification
- The vehicle had red lights
- The suspect asked for money
“The majority, most of the time, is a blue light and siren,” Maynor explained. “A true law enforcement officer isn't going to ask you for money to get out of a charge. They're either going to give you a citation or a warning ... and let you go through the court system to answer for that violation, traffic issue or criminal charge.”
Citing the ongoing investigation, deputies would not share where the stop happened but said that it was in a more rural area of the county.
The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, in his early to mid 30s with a slender build. He had short hair, possibly in a military-style cut, a thin, dirty-blonde mustache and was wearing dark, aviator-style sunglasses and a hat.
The sheriff’s office has not identified or arrested anyone in connection to the traffic stop.
“Our investigators and patrol deputies are working [to identify the suspect], trying to find leads and camera footage that could be in the area and reaching out to our surrounding agencies," Maynor said. One of their questions is whether other agencies have had similar reports of someone impersonating law enforcement.
The vehicle involved was described as an older-model white SUV, believed to be an early 2000s Isuzu Trooper, with very dark tinted windows and no spare tire mounted on the rear.
“The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office reminds the public that we will never ask for money to avoid a citation,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. “Deputies will always request proper identification, explain the reason for a stop, while wearing official uniforms and badges.”
You can call 911 to verify whether a traffic stop is legitimate, and a deputy will respond.