KENNER, La. — A woman from New Orleans is being credited by police for helping catch a suspected police impersonator, after a terrifying ordeal in Kenner Thursday morning.
Police say 58-year-old Dudd Ogden targeted and terrified a woman and her 2-year-old god son at 4 a.m. on Reverand Richard Wilson Boulevard.
Rochelle Pierre told WWL-TV exclusively, she was on her way home from dropping off a friend, when a Chevy Silverado began tailgating her, honking and flickering its lights.
"As soon as I pulled out, this truck comes up behind me and he's flashing his lights at me and he's blowing the horn," Pierre said. "So I get over, thinking that he just wants to pass me up, and he gets over behind me again."
Pierre says eventually, the man, later identified as Ogden, pulled up behind her and began screaming at her to pull over.
With her 2-year-old godson in the back seat, Rochelle pulled into the parking lot of the Quick Save gas station, locked her doors, and dialed 911.
She claims Ogden then got out of his car and stood at her window as she spoke to a dispatcher.
"So the cops were like, 'well, don't get out of the car,'" she said. "And he was screaming at my window telling me, 'get out, you're under arrest, get out of the car'. And he was grabbing at my window. I had it cracked, so he's like grabbing at the window and the door handle trying to get it open, and it wouldn't open."
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Pierre said Ogden claimed he was an undercover police officer, and when asked to show his badge, showed an empty plastic ID card holder attached to a lanyard.
Then, after she told him she had called police, Ogden allegedly hopped in his truck and tried to get away.
Pierre pulled her car in front of his truck, blocking his way out.
Kenner Police arrived moments later and arrested Ogden, a 58-year-old man who lives in Mississippi.
Lt. Michael Cunningham, spokeperson for Kenner Police, says the situation could have been much worse.
"This could have been very bad for her," he said.
Police found FBI and CIA hats in Ogden's car and said he confessed to claiming he was an undercover officer.
He now faces charges of impersonating a police officer.
"I'm hoping that his charges do stick, and he does not get out and have the smallest inkling to do anything like this again," Pierre said.
Officers said Rochelle and her god son are safe because of her quick thinking.
"She did everything right, by the book," Cunningham said. "That's how it should be done. And she really needs to be commended for that."
Police say if you're ever being pulled over and are not sure if the person is a police officer, use your hazard lights, slow down and call 911.
A real officer will understand the situation. If it's not a real officer, it gives police time to respond.
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