VANCOUVER -- Police in B.C.’s Interior say they have arrested a suspected police impersonator while he was allegedly in the middle of conducting a fraudulent traffic stop.
In a written news release issued on Wednesday, Kelowna RCMP say on May 1 just before 3 p.m. an off-duty officer noticed a non-police vehicle with what looked like police lights on its dashboard. The vehicle appeared to have pulled over another vehicle near the intersection of Highway 97 and Drought Road in Peachland.
An on-duty officer was called, and that officer took a 64-year-old man – who had been driving a smaller-sized white SUV with strobing lights on the dash – into custody, says the statement.
Police also allege the officer found signs of alcohol and open alcohol containers in the vehicle.
The driver was taken into custody at the scene and was released pending a court date. His car was impounded at the scene, say RCMP, and the driver received a 90-day driving prohibition.
“RCMP is appealing to anyone who witnessed this incident, or has any other information that may aid our investigators” says Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy, media relations officer for Kelowna RCMP.
Noseworthy added Kelowna RCMP are investigating whether this incident is connected to other reports of possible police impersonations in the region.
In another written statement released on Wednesday, Trail RCMP say they received reports of a white truck with flashing lights driving on Highway 3B. It turned out that the person was a private contractor responding to an emergency, say police.
