ST. CHARLES PARISH, La. — There are at least two recent reports, one in St. Charles Parish and another in Mississippi, of a fake cop using a dark-colored Dodge Charger and police lights to pull over women, according to authorities in both areas.
While law enforcement officials aren't saying yet if these puzzling interactions are the same officer impersonator, they're eerily similar.
According to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s office, a man with a police-style uniform and a star-shaped badge in a black Dodge Charger with tinted windows, black rims, a grill as well as a police spotlight turned on blue lights Sunday night and pulled over a woman before inappropriately searching her on I-10 west near the Spillway.
“It’s at night you see lights. It probably took her a short period of time to realize that something wasn’t right,” said Sheriff Greg Champagne of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office. “He began to indicate he smelled marijuana - which of course there was no smell of marijuana as best we can understand -- and he touched her and indicated that he wanted some sort pat down search."
As soon as the victim -- described by police as a Northshore woman in her late 20s or 30s -- became suspicious he said he had to go get some paperwork in the car, he returned to the Charger and drove off, according to Champagne.
Another case involving a dark Dodge Charger happened along the state line near East Feliciana Parish and Wilkinson County, Mississippi. A high school student heading to school was pulled over Sept. 20, again, it was man using flashing lights but no identifying uniform and no badge, according to Sheriff Jeff Travis with the East Feliciana Sheriff’s Office.
After the teen questioned the man, he apparently felt uncomfortable and got into his vehicle and left, Travis said.
“It’s hard enough for the men and women of law enforcement to their job as it is now,” Travis said. “It creates a problem of trust between the citizens and law enforcement.”
It’s still unclear if both cases are the same person, but detectives from Mississippi and St. Charles Parish are comparing notes to figure out what's going on.
“It is against the law,” Travis said. “It’s very concerning because we don’t know the intent.”
While a description of the suspect in the Mississippi case is unclear, Champagne says the man in the St. Charles Parish incident is white with no facial hair and short brown hair with a Chinese symbol tattooed on the left side of his neck.
Deputies say if you're ever worried about who is pulling you over put on your flashers, drive slowly and call 911 and ask for verification. Also -- don’t be afraid to ask questions. In both cases being suspicious seemed to scare the men away.