The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible incident involving a man allegedly impersonating a police officer.
On Sunday (Sept.29), just prior to midnight, deputies received a call of an incident that occurred on I-10 Westbound at Mile Post 215 in St. Charles Parish.
A black Dodge Charger with dark tinted windows, using red and blue emergency lights, apparently pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 10 for speeding, according to Sheriff Greg Champagne. The complainant described the driver of the alleged emergency vehicle as being a white male, approximately 5’9” to 5’10” tall, approximately 200 lbs, with brown shaved hair on the sides, no facial hair and was clad in a police style uniform with a police style utility belt.
The uniform was described as being royal blue with a star shaped badge and a blue baseball cap. The complainant did not see any other markings on the uniform, but did notice a large Chinese symbol tattooed on the alleged officer’s neck.
The complainant advised the alleged officer had removed her from her vehicle, claiming he smelled marijuana and was going to search her vehicle and her person for drugs, the sheriff said.
After questioning the man about his “inappropriate technique” for the search he was performing on her, the complainant advised the man returned to his vehicle and drove away.
If anyone has information related to this incident, they are urged to contact Detective Kevin Tennison at (985) 783-1135 or contact (985) 783-6807.
Champagne said anyone with questions about the legitimacy of an emergency vehicle with no markings pulling you over, consider a few options before stopping:
• Slow down, make sure you are in the right lane if traveling on a multi-lane roadway, and utilize your emergency flashers so the operator of the unmarked emergency vehicle knows you see them.
• Call 911 and inform the dispatcher of where you are. Often, they will be able to confirm if the unmarked emergency vehicle is an actual police officer attempting to pull you over.
• If possible, find a populated public area to pull over, such as a gas station, business parking lot or somewhere where there will be a potential for security cameras and witnesses.
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