May 12, 2009 11:57 pm US/Eastern
L.I. Cop Pulls Over To Help Cop ... Impersonator
Suffolk County Sheriff's Deputy Says He Was Fooled At First, But Some Things Suspect Simply Couldn't Fake
Reporting
Lou Young
YAPHANK, N.Y. (CBS) ―
There was a strange encounter on the Long Island Expressway on Tuesday. A patrolling sheriff's deputy pulled over to help another cop making a traffic stop only to stumble onto an alleged police impersonator.
Lights, no siren, and no police officer!
It happened during the Tuesday morning rush. A woman in a mini-van was pulled over for speeding by a guy pretending to be a cop.
Juan Santiago, 39, looked the part according to a real sheriff's deputy who arrested him after stopping to lend a hand.
"With the car and the way he was dressed, he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. I thought he was a cop. He had me fooled at first," Suffolk County Deputy Michael Brecht said.
The car itself is pretty impressive, a 2005 Crown Vic complete police package. But a couple of things about the vehicle tell you it's not the real thing. For instance, there was the exposed wiring. Apparently it's a do-it-yourself job. He bought the lights separately and installed them himself.
What really tips you off though is a little placard on the rear bumper. The state police badge is something you might put on your car to impress a police officer pulling you over in the hopes of getting out of a ticket. It's not something a real police cruiser would have.
And Santiago was vague about who he worked for, claiming to be a volunteer. He's not.
"In his mind he felt was doing a good thing and kept saying I work with police all the time," Deputy Brecht said.
Santiago, who is from Middle Village, says he's a truck driver and has a pistol permit, although the gun wasn't with him Tuesday. Police want to know if you've ever met him.
"The concern is he stopped other people other than the woman he stopped today," Suffolk County Police Capt. Richard Clay said. "What were his actions on prior stops, if he did stop anybody?"
He's in jail, the car is impounded and the investigation is underway.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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