Police: Man Posing As Officer, Stopping Motorists

NEW PALESTINE, Ind. -- Authorities are investigating reports of a man who allegedly posed as a police officer and stopped motorists in the New Palestine area.

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Police: Man Was In Street Clothes

Police said three women recently gave them separate but similar reports of a man -- wearing street clothes -- pulling them over in an unmarked, black, four-door Ford Taurus with red and blue lights on the dashboard.

The women said the man asked them questions, gave them a verbal warning and let them go.

"The individual has never harmed the (drivers) ... but we're just concerned he's getting their information," Hancock County sheriff's Capt. Jim Bradbury said Thursday. "He knows their names, where they live and everything about them."

One of the women -- the wife of a Hancock County sheriff's deputy -- was stopped on Mount Comfort Road in front of Doe Creek Middle School, Bradbury said.

"When she asked what she was stopped for, he really couldn't explain it to her," he said.

When the woman asked the man if he knew her husband, he said no, became nervous and let her go, Bradbury (pictured, right) said.

The women said the man is in his late 20s or 30s, police said. He has a medium build and dark hair cut in a flattop style, police said.

Police said at least two things indicate the man is an imposter. First, no officer in the area has the type of car described by the women.

Second, they said, the man wasn't in uniform while making a stop in an unmarked car. Law mandates that officers who make stops in unmarked cars must be in uniform, police said.

Motorists who have concerns about whether they're being stopped by a proper officer should put on their hazard lights and drive to a well-lighted, public area before stopping, Bradbury said.