Alicia Leonard
SoWal Insider
I and many of my girlfriends on FB got an email yesterday about this guy. I called the SO to see if the email was true. Their PIO did some research, got back to me and we held the press, so we could include this release. Be safe out there ladies. I've had something similar to this happen to me and it can really shake you up for awhile. Thank you to the lady who sent out the original email. Glad you trusted your instincts and drove away.
Freeport, FL (September 1, 2009) –
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office and Niceville Police Department continue to look into two cases of a person imitating a police officer over the weekend. The same suspect is believed responsible in both incidents.
The first stop occurred around 6:30 Saturday night at the intersection of State Highway 20 and Evans Street in Niceville. A young woman reports that a 2007 green impala with a red and blue light pulled her over. The vehicle also reportedly had a gold star decal on its side. The suspect is described as a white male, wearing black slacks with a gold star on his jacket. He also had on a ball cap. The man asked the driver her age, and then went back to his car and left the scene.
Several hours later, the vehicle matching the same description made a stop along the State Highway 331 bypass, just north of Freeport. At around eleven o’clock, the woman driver became suspicious and called the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. The driver left the scene, and the suspect drove away in the opposite direction heading south on Highway 331.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office advises motorists that they should be aware that unmarked vehicles are used in law enforcement. Those unmarked vehicles are equipped with several lights, normally in the grill and upper windshield area.
If a person is concerned about the validity of an unmarked vehicle trying to stop them, that person should go at a normal speed to a lighted area where people are present. They may also call the Sheriff’s Office at 892-8111 to see if an unmarked vehicle is making a stop. Marked and unmarked law enforcement vehicles in Walton County are required to call out their location while making a traffic stop.
Press Release
Fake Cop
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office and Niceville Police Department continue to look into two cases of a person imitating a police officer over the weekend. The same suspect is believed responsible in both incidents.
The first stop occurred around 6:30 Saturday night at the intersection of State Highway 20 and Evans Street in Niceville. A young woman reports that a 2007 green impala with a red and blue light pulled her over. The vehicle also reportedly had a gold star decal on its side. The suspect is described as a white male, wearing black slacks with a gold star on his jacket. He also had on a ball cap. The man asked the driver her age, and then went back to his car and left the scene.
Several hours later, the vehicle matching the same description made a stop along the State Highway 331 bypass, just north of Freeport. At around eleven o’clock, the woman driver became suspicious and called the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. The driver left the scene, and the suspect drove away in the opposite direction heading south on Highway 331.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office advises motorists that they should be aware that unmarked vehicles are used in law enforcement. Those unmarked vehicles are equipped with several lights, normally in the grill and upper windshield area.
If a person is concerned about the validity of an unmarked vehicle trying to stop them, that person should go at a normal speed to a lighted area where people are present. They may also call the Sheriff’s Office at 892-8111 to see if an unmarked vehicle is making a stop. Marked and unmarked law enforcement vehicles in Walton County are required to call out their location while making a traffic stop.
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