Impersonating a Whacker?

[NJFFSA16]

Police say man was impersonating officer
elkdwcad
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A man faces charges of impersonating a
police officer after he used flashing lights to pull over a woman,
police said.
Drew M. Walburn, 20, of Elkhart, admitted stopping the
33-year-old woman Thursday to scold her for nearly causing an
accident, according to police reports. Walburn said he was an
emergency medical technician over the border in Michigan and hadn't
taken off the light bars on his car, said Detective Capt. Steve
Mock.
Walburn was spotted by another police officer, who stopped to
help what he thought was another policeman and discovered Walburn
was not an officer.
Police checked Walburn's car and found red and blue lights, and
Walburn was arrested on a preliminary felony charge of
impersonating a police officer.
A search of the car after the arrest revealed a siren in the
trunk, police reported.
The Berrien County, Mich., fire department was named in the
police report, but the fire chief there said Walburn has never been
a member of the fire department, The Truth of Elkhart reported.
Indiana law requires police officers making traffic stops to
either wear a full police uniform or drive a clearly marked police
vehicle. Officers wearing plain clothes and driving unmarked
vehicles are not allowed to make traffic stops.
---
Information from: The Truth, http://www.etruth.com

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[PattyV]

wow, imagine that. impersonating a whacker. thats got to be a new all time low. :D

[JackTee09]

I find the name of the paper - "The Truth" - to be funny. It has to be an oxymoron - truth and newspaper. :D

[doughesson]

In 1995 on til 97 or so,there was a blue light rapist going around eastern Arkansas.He got away with it for a while because he so rarely came out of hiding to take advantage of people who figured that blue lights means to pull over and see what he wants.
During that time and hopefully until now,Arkansas cops weren't allowed to make traffic stops when in umarked units.They had to call for a marked unit to do the deed ,then tell the uniform what they saw to need a pullover.
I don't like when police abuse their powers and I don't like reading how a cop was shot by someone fearing that they were going to be raped.

[doughesson]

"Isvestia" is Russian for News and "Pravda" is Russian for Truth.
There used to be a joke in the Soviet Union about how there was no truth in the news and no news in the truth.I cannot recall how it went in the original Russian or I'd have added it here.


Originally posted by JackTee09
I find the name of the paper - "The Truth" - to be funny. It has to be an oxymoron - truth and newspaper. :D

[CaptOldTimer]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by doughesson
[B]


During that time and hopefully until now,Arkansas cops weren't allowed to make traffic stops when in umarked units.They had to call for a marked unit to do the deed ,then tell the uniform what they saw to need a pullover.



---------------------------

The state and local guys make traffic stops every day in unmarked vehicles. They have uniforms and badges and ID cards to prove that they are real and not "Whackers".



:rolleyes:

[JackTee09]

The uniform and ID cannot be seen at night in an unmarked vehicle. Lights can be purchased anywhere-Ricky Rescues do it - and there is a debate on the merits of unmarked cars doing traffic stops - especially when not in uniform.

Id badges - you can't see them from the inside of a car at night. :rolleyes:

[britfan1]

Some years back, we had an officer in an unmarked get in some hot water when he pulled a teenage girl for speeding (60 in a 45) in one of the more rural areas of the county. He didn’t get in hot water for making the traffic stop itself, but rather for arresting the young lady for eluding.

When he flipped his grill lights on, she drove a couple of miles until she reached a well lit area (a store that was open) before stopping. The officer took exception to this, feeling that she should have stopped immediately...at about 11PM on a stretch of road featuring only woods with no houses in sight.

She was cuffed, taken to the court house, booked, and her parents were called to pick her up. They were NOT happy when advised of the reason for their daughter’s arrest. She had, in fact, done exactly what her parents had told her to do in such situations.

The judge agreed whole heartedly and told the officer (Who was young, single, and therefore childless) that his three daughters had all been told that if an unmarked lit them up on a deserted stretch of road, and they DIDN'T wait until they reached a safe, well lit area before stopping they would find themselves on restriction for at least two weeks.

I know all the parties in this incident (The officer is now a white shirt and the young lady is ‘Busy with three kids of her own’.)The judge…now long retired… was renowned for his chewing out abilities and was quite adept at getting his point across. He succeeded brilliantly that day from what I heard.

No official action was taken against the officer...the Eluding A Police Officer charge was dropped, the 60 in a 45 wasn't, and the police officer learned a valuable lesson.

Since that incident (Many years ago, back when ALL of Chesterfield County's cars were unmarked) things have changed quite a bit. All of CPD's patrol units are marked now, and have been for a couple of decades.

Virginia State PD, however, has quite a few unmarkeds on the road used almost exclusively for traffic enforcement...and not the plain Crown Vics with baby moon hubcaps either. We’re talking tricked out rides including but not limited to a couple of Cameros, a few Mustangs, and several SUVs. Should one of these rides swing in behinds a driver with their grill making like a firefly convention, the driver would be more than justified in driving to a location where they felt safe…I’d be leery of an Excursion with lighted running boards, low profile tires, and a pair of blue strobes in the grill.

Of course the troopers driving these rides understand this and most of the time these cars are on the interstates rather than the secondary roads…they’re not going to arrest, say, a young woman or a man with his family in the car with him for driving to an exit and then to a well lit business before stopping for a tricked out rife with lights in the grill (Or indeed for any of the regular unmarkeds that State PD has on the road) especially if the driver explains himself.

Rob

[Rossco]

It's a good idea, especially for a woman to get to a safe, well lit place. Our sherrifs department took out an ad in the paper advising people that they would not have a problem with it. They request that you slow way down, put on your flashers, and proceed to the next place that you feel safe.

This came as a result of a couple unrelated occurances of impersonation around the county.

[Peetmoss]

Just an Idea but wouldn't it also be a good Idea to maybe call 911 and let them know that an unmarked car was behind you attempting a stop and you were going to proceed to say the 711 and pull over?

[Rayr49]

This happened in our district this week. (South Dakota)

Piedmont man faces arraignment in August
By Laura Woodard, Journal Staff Writer

STURGIS — A Piedmont man facing several charges, including the kidnapping of a young woman, will be arraigned before Judge Jerome Eckrich at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 22, in Sturgis. Eric Donald Robert's bond is set at $100,000 with an additional condition that he is not allowed to contact the victim.

Robert, 43, made his initial appearance in front of 4th Circuit Magistrate Judge Randal Macy Thursday morning on charges of kidnapping, assault, fourth-degree burglary, impersonating a police officer and false reporting.

In a news release, Meade County Deputy State's Attorney Tracey Decker said, "The investigation is ongoing, and there is a high probability that additional charges will be filed."

According to a probable cause affidavit: about 2 a.m. Sunday, July 24, an 18-year-old Meade County woman was driving a 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass east on Stagebarn Road. She turned onto Quaal Road when a red 1989 Chevy pickup with Wisconsin license plates flashed its white headlights.

She pulled over and the man approached her driver's side door and identified himself as an undercover police officer working narcotics. The man asked the young woman to perform several field type sobriety tests. He then searched her car and grabbed her, "picking her up and forcing her into the open trunk of her car," according to the affidavit.

While in the trunk, the young woman used her cell phone to call law enforcement. Meade County sent police units to the area and found the vehicle abandoned with the unharmed woman in the trunk.

According to the affidavit, officials located the pickup within two blocks of where the incident occurred, and the woman identified the pickup as the one the man had been driving. The truck was equipped with police-type equipment mounted in the cab, clearly visible through the windows. The equipment made the highlights strobe or flash from high beam to low beam. The truck also had a speaker.

Ron White, a Meade County Sheriff's Office investigator, located the owner of the pickup, Robert, at Stage Barn Crystal Caverns, where he works. Robert told White he had been drinking alcohol at a bar late Saturday and early Sunday morning. He said he left his truck at the bar because he was "too intoxicated" to drive and his employer, Cheryl Williamson, had come to pick him up, the affidavit said.

Investigators said they later learned that Robert did not consume any alcoholic beverages in the bar that night.

Robert told the investigator that as an emergency medical technician in Wisconsin, he was allowed to have flashing white lights and a siren on his privately owned vehicle.

Robert was clean-shaven and bald when White spoke to him Sunday morning, but investigators said they learned Robert had 1-inch blond hair Saturday evening when he was at the bar.

Robert matched the physical description that the victim gave to law enforcement. According to the affidavit, Robert shaved his head Sunday morning before talking with law enforcement and "has not been truthful" with the investigator about his actions and events that occurred Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Investigator Mike Walker interviewed Williamson, and said she admitted to having lied about picking Robert up early Sunday, and that she saw Robert just after he had shaved his head, about 5 a.m. Sunday, the affidavit said.

Williamson also said that Robert had told her he had "made a mistake, had met some guys and did some stupid things last night," the affidavit said.