A man attempting to impersonate police in south Auckland had his plan fall apart after he accidentally tried to pull over an unmarked police car — only to discover he was signalling real officers.
The incident happened on Saturday night when two police officers driving a mufti (unmarked) patrol car noticed a station wagon behind them flashing red and blue lights, a signal normally used by police to order a vehicle to stop.
Inspector Kerry Watson said the officers were immediately confused by what they were seeing.
“Our officers were perplexed and quickly clocked the car was not police-official,” he said.
After a brief moment, the driver of the station wagon appeared to realise he had made a serious mistake and attempted to flee the area to avoid being caught.
The man’s escape attempt didn’t last long. Police quickly caught up with him a short distance away and arrested him without incident.
During the arrest, officers discovered the driver was more than twice the legal breath alcohol limit, according to police.
Inspector Watson said impersonating police was serious enough on its own, but the situation was made worse by the alleged impaired driving.
“It’s bad enough that this person thought it was okay to impersonate a police car,” he said. “It’s even worse to see impaired and dangerous driving.”
Impersonating police or representing a vehicle as a police vehicle is an offence under the Policing Act 2008.
The driver, a 38-year-old man, has been charged with impersonating a police officer and excess breath alcohol. He is due to appear in the Manukau District Court on Christmas Eve.
