Fake cops attacking AZ motorists
From the Arizona Star (http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/31009FAKECOPS.html):

Fake cops stopping, terrifying motorists

Shots fired, but no one hurt in incidents around Tucson

By L. Anne Newell
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Men impersonating law enforcement officers have pulled over at least three people since mid-September, shooting at one driver and forcing another to run into the desert at gunpoint, officials said Wednesday.

No one was injured in the incidents, and authorities believe all three were committed by the same two men, using fake police lights to pull drivers to the side of the road. Officials put out information on the incidents to warn the public.

“Obviously, they’re still out there,” said Marana police Sgt. Tim Brunenkant, whose agency recorded one of the incidents. “We don’t know what their motive is, if it’s drug-related or if it’s something just to strike fear in people.”

He and Deputy Dawn Barkman, a spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which recorded the other two incidents, urged drivers to be cautious if they’re pulled over by unmarked
vehicles. That is especially important if the people who get out of the vehicles aren’t wearing law
enforcement uniforms, as was the case with the men in the September incidents.

“Ask for identification and badge numbers,” Brunenkant said. “Most traffic stops are legit and the police officers are the police officers, but if something doesn’t seem right, ask for their identification and badge number. If it’s in a remote area, pull over to a lighted area or a populated area for safety.”

The Sheriff’s Department incidents occurred Sept. 19 between 9 and 11 p.m., near the Arizona 83 turnoff from Interstate 10, midway between Tucson and Benson, Barkman said.

In the first, she said, a small white pickup truck with white strobe lights in the front window pulled over two men. As they approached, the driver noticed one of the men was carrying a handgun.

The passenger noted that they couldn’t be officers due to their clothing: One was in jeans and a white shirt while the other wore dark clothing.

The men drove away and reported the incident soon after.

But shortly afterward, Barkman said, the phony officers apparently struck again.

A man in another vehicle reported a white SUV with red and blue lights in the front tried to stop his vehicle, but he didn’t pull over immediately, Barkman said. So someone in the SUV shot out the right rear tire of his vehicle, forcing him to pull over, she said. The fake officers then approached the driver’s door, forced him out at gunpoint and ordered him to run into the desert.

The fake officers then left the victim’s vehicle by the side of the road and left.

Marana police recorded a similar incident at 9:45 p.m. Sept. 25, Brunenkant said.

He said a family was driving west on Interstate 10 near Avra Valley Road when they saw a white pickup with strobe lights in the grille come up behind them. The family stopped, he said, and two men approached.

One of the men tried to open the passenger door, Brunenkant said, but it was locked. The other opened the driver’s door and pointed a handgun at the driver.

The driver pushed up the man’s arm and he fired in the air. Brunenkant said the driver stepped on the gas and began driving away, but one of the fake officers shot his tire.

The family continued, driving on the rim to the next exit, where they left the highway and called police, he said.

While the incidents are unusual, they’re not unheard of.

In 2001, local authorities said they were investigating at least six incidents of fake officers in the previous 16 months. The cases all involve unmarked cars, most with flashing grille lights and sirens and fake officers who had badges and wore shirts that said “FBI.”

In one of the cases, a man told police he’d picked up three hitchhikers and was stopped by a light blue Ford Crown Victoria with blue and red flashing lights and a siren. The men stole the vehicle with the hitchhikers inside, he told police.

In another incident, a man told officials four men in camouflage clothes carrying guns pulled him from his vehicle and beat him.

And, in another incident, a motorist said a man in a Chevrolet Caprice with a flashing blue light stopped him, hit him in the head with a handgun and took his car keys.

It was unclear if arrests were made in those cases.

Most agencies in the greater Tucson area have unmarked vehicles, authorities said, but officers inside will almost always be wearing uniforms. It’s not typical protocol for a non-uniformed officer in an unmarked vehicle to make a traffic stop, partly because of the risk to the officer and the public, they said.

“I think absolutely people should consider this a dangerous situation,” Barkman said. “The three incidents that occurred happened in September, but people should be aware.”

Officials said anyone who is pulled over by a fake officer should call 911 as soon as possible. They asked anyone with information on the people from the September incidents, described as bilingual men in their mid-20s with heavy builds, to call 911 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line of the Pima County Attorney’s Office.

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