An Arvada man on Friday warned drivers to stay alert after he said a police impersonator attempted to pull him over.
The incident is one of four similar reports across the Front Range in the past month, including two in Wheat Ridge this week.
Jason Patton said he was merging onto Interstate 70 Eastbound from Kipling Street on Tuesday afternoon when he noticed flashing red and blue lights behind him. He started to slow down and pull over to the side of the highway and said the vehicle pulled up beside him and then tried to pull in front of him.
“It looked like an unmarked police officer, Ford Explorer, all blacked out, push guard on the front, lights in the grill,” he said. “It also had lights on the roof.”
But the vehicle had a rosary hanging from the rearview mirror and Texas license plates, Patton said.
“They tried to block me in, but when they almost hit me, I hit the brakes hard, so I was farther back,” he said. “That’s when I saw the Texas plate, and I just swerved around him.”
Patton said he called 911 to make sure he wasn’t eluding an actual law enforcement officer, and dispatchers confirmed there was no officer in the area conducting a traffic stop.
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