What's with the uniform? Can you keep your hands out of your pockets for me? Thank you. Is that your shirt? Oh, it's my best friend's shirt. Okay, we're just going to come talk to you, but just stay facing away from us from right now. Okay. Don't reach for anything. What is this? A one. People usually associate red and blue flashing lights, badges, and law enforcement uniforms to cops. But what happens when it's all fake? These police impersonators get the surprise of their lives when they're confronted by real cops. I'm not even sure what the configuration is. Oh, there you go. There you go. [Music] On April 22nd, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida, Deputy Sheriff Nadler spotted a white Chevrolet Silverado truck using red and blue lights. A Toyota Highlander in front of the truck thought it was an emergency vehicle and ran a red light to get out of its way. So, the truck is your dad's truck? Yes. Where's he at? He's working right now. Where? Roofing. I wouldn't know where exactly what happened. You can put trans behind her back here. So, you're being arrested. Do you know why you're being arrested? Here, let me get to back when we're done. All right. So, the reason you're being arrested, I'm going to take this off for You've been you've been very cooperative, so we don't need to do any weird. Here you go. So, here's what Officer Nadler was originally suspicious of the truck because it did not have any law enforcement signage. When he followed the truck, he witnessed it use its red and blue lights and traffic, and that's when he decided to pull the truck over. His suspicions were on point. Number one, you have no driver's license. You're not allowed to drive. You understand that, right? Okay. Number two, you have red and blue emergency lights on this car. That's illegal. That's That's illegal. You have lights like that. Red and blue on the front of this car, not my truck. Doesn't matter who's it is, you can't use it. You understand? Just because you you're the one driving it doesn't belong to you. You know it's there. You're using it. You're not allowed to use it. You can't use it. Only person that can use it is law enforcement. You're not law enforcement. Unless I know Unless you are. Are you? No. Okay. Just want to make sure. Do you have anything unusual on you in the truck? Any guns? No. Drugs? No. Nothing like that. Weapons? No. Speak a little bit of English? No. Okay. Okay. Do me a favor. You can double lock him when you get the chance if you can and put it to the other side. So, after inspecting the entire vehicle, another officer gave a detailed report about what he found on the car. He noted that in addition to the red and blue flashing lights in the windshield, there were also strobe lights in the front grill of the truck. But it was the license plate that was the most alarming. two on the right, one in the middle top, and two on the left. As you can see, they alternate. Red on the left, blue on the right. And then on the right one, it's red on the right, blue on the I'm sorry, red on the left, blue on the right. The back of the vehicle has this license plate for the sheriff's association. To the untrained eye, I mean, it has a sheriff's star on it and it has emergency lights. This is a box which has the ability to turn on lights and [Applause] sirens. I'm not even sure what the configuration is. Oh, there you go. There you go. As you can see, it has a functioning siren to go with the lights. Alternating sirens. [Music] All right. So, there you go. And an air horn to go with it. The car was apparently registered to a man, but there was a Valentine's Day card addressed to a woman named Eleanor Rodriguez, who legally owned the car was a mystery. After an interior search of the vehicle, they found a suspicious oil vape pen and another individual's driver's license. Oh, here you go. Look at this. Someone else's driver's license in here. Yeah, he gave it to you at first. Who did? The driver. He said I said, "Who's is it?" He said, "It doesn't know." But he gave it to you. Yeah. He gave you someone else's license. Yeah. Oh, so he he didn't He thought you were not going to catch on. No, he said it's not his. Oh, okay. Well, that's right. Officers removed all the police lights and activator buttons outside and inside the car as per Florida state laws. Those items are illegal and police are ordered to immediately take custody of them. [Applause] Are you able to remove the lights in the grill? The red and blues for evidence? Yeah, I just removed these. Just see if you're able to do so somehow. Let me open the the hood. We located this tail light with a controller box which is consistent with strobes. The only thing is we can't just hook it up roadside to find out if it's red and blue or if it's yellow, white, or clear, something to that effect. But either way, for the purpose of the case, I just want it to be clear that there is a set of strobe tail lights in here as well. After confiscating the items, the officer spoke with the driver, Carlos Barthole, in order to get a better idea about his intentions in using the lights. He told officers that he was borrowing the car from the registered owner. He had previously told officers it belonged to his father, which was a lie. So, your license be suspended. You're aware of that? No, I actually wasn't aware. Or I should say you don't have a valid license at all. Did you know that? You thought your license is No, I I I knew I didn't have Okay, there you That's what I mean to say. You have an ID card that's valid, but not a license that's valid. Yes, sir. So, why drive if your license is no good? Cuz it was me asking for the vehicle. Let's say and then in this situation like which I didn't know was going to happen, you know, if anything happens. I asked for the car. I didn't say any like I didn't say, oh, this person was going to be driving the vehicle. No, I was me. I asked to use a vehicle. So, the person who owns the car, um, Elano or what's it? Yeah. Did he know you had no license? No, he didn't. He has no idea. Okay. Carlos claimed that he was borrowing the truck for a job and he had no idea about any of the lights or machinery inside the vehicle, but he admitted that he had driven the truck before. The officer was not buying his claims about being unaware of the lights. Why are there red and blue lights in the truck? Why? There's got to be a reason. That's not of my knowledge cuz it's not my truck. Anything like any upgrades or anything that's added to there, I did not put any money towards or Sure. No, that's that's fair. You didn't pay for it? Yes. Okay. But why are they in the truck? I do not know. I don't have the answers for that question specifically cuz I mean it's not my truck. It's any decisions they decide to make on the truck. It's their decision. How long have the lights been in the truck? I didn't actually didn't know till recently until like you guys pulled me over. Like I saw them there, but I was just like it's none of my You saw When's the first time you saw them period? Like a week ago. About a week ago. So they might have been longer, but you don't you didn't know. So a week ago, how did you see them? Were you driving it and you noticed you're like, "Oh my god, there's red lights in here. This is crazy, right?" Well, I didn't touch any of the switches or anything like that. So, I was like I didn't You just saw them? Yeah, I saw them. Were they on when you saw them the first time a week ago? No, they were off. Yeah, they it just like they just look like lights. I have like what? Emergency lights out. But you don't know why they were. The officer asked him if he had ever witnessed the owner of the vehicle show him or anyone a police badge, but he denied having any knowledge of the owner impersonating a law enforcement officer. So, when you're walking up to the truck getting in, you you notice the lights in the car. Yes. So, then why drive it? You know, you can't drive it, obviously. We already talked about that earlier, but why drive it then if you know about the lights? I didn't It wouldn't I don't know how I just be honest with me, man. I I just want to know like what go were you just like, I don't care that the red and blues are in there. I need to get here to A to B. I wasn't doing anything bad. Like, I didn't No drugs, no possessions, no nothing. Like in my mind I'm like I'm not you know I'm not a bad person and I'm not No, I get that and I I never said you were. I want to know just more the why. Like if I'm getting in a car vehicle and you know it was I in my our head we should have taken an Uber. That's what we were playing first. Yeah. Probably a good idea. I mean we were like a vehicle is there why pay for an Uber and take it? So if a legitimate police car like that one right there if I told you as a cop to you, hey take that car, go to Walmart, go get whatever you want and bring it back. Would you do it? No. Why? because same thing. You have red and blue lights in a in a in a in a vehicle that belongs to someone else that signifies police. Why drive it? Why put yourself in that position? Is all I want to know just where you are mentally with it like I wasn't thinking I wasn't going to you know something like for me it wasn't I was going to like oh you're you're going to get arrested for this this that like so you just didn't expect it to turn out this way. Yeah. I I was like oh you know I'm I'm a clean person make records like you know. So, what did you think the worst would have happened if the police caught you driving today? What do you think would happen? Told it away. On top of all this, the officer informed Carlos that they tested the vape pen and it came back positive for marijuana. So, technically, the officers could have also charged Carlos with a DUI. At any point today, when you had the vehicle and you're driving around, at least one car cuz a deputy witnessed it like moved out of the way of I'm sorry, it's the second time. I apologize. moved out of the way of your vehicle like he was getting pulled over. Did any other vehicles do that or just the one just the one car? I didn't even know he was pulling over. I didn't I was confused until he lowered the window and he was like pointing at me and I was like what? I was like why? I was confused cuz he was like are you like until he also told me he's like you got there's lights on and I was like no I'm not pulling you over. That's why I told you and he just drove off. He just left. The officers charged Carlos with false impersonation of a law enforcement officer, unlawful use of blue lights, possession of a control substance, and driving with a suspended license. On November 4th, 2023, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an off-duty state police captain passed a white car that resembled an unmarked police cruiser. The cruiser then flashed its police lights to pull over the captain. Officers were then called to the scene to assist the captain. How you doing, sir? What's up? Officer Gal State Police. Who are you with? Do you have your identification card or anything? Sorry to bother you, but this guy's been following me and my friend is okay. So, I understand you were slowing traffic down on the highway. No. You sure about that? You want to pull that out, please? How you doing, sir? Good. What's your name in charge? I'm in charge. Okay. What's your name, sir? Okay, sir. I was told that you were using your car like you were a police officer. Well, you should have showed it, right? You're in my truck. I told you to show it in your truck. You're on private property right now. You have your driver's license, sir? No, I'm not giving it. The man was identified as Ronald Portillo, a security guard. The officer saw that Ronald was wearing a K-9 officer tactical vest and had a barking canine dog in the back of his cruiser inside what looked like a police window cage. When questioned, Ronald tried to come up with an excuse for his actions. I'm in charge of this right now. Okay. You're in charge of what? I'm charge of this property and other property. Okay. And that's fine. But over there on the highway where you lit up cars and you were using your car like a police car, there's no proof. Okay. Hear me out. I'm investigating something, right? And if you refuse to give me your driver's license, I can detain you and arrest you. Okay. Detain me then. Okay. Turn around. No, no. Don't resist, man. Hey, knock it off. Anything wrong? No, man. Stop pulling away. Don't do it. Well, then why are you resisting? Now you're resisting arrest. Now you're resisting. Ronald tried to act like a tough guy and call the police officers bluff. But unfortunately for him, the officers were not bluffing. He found out the hard way that law enforcement takes police impersonation very seriously. Do me a favor. Have a seat here on the sidewalk. No, I don't want to sit. I'd rather just stand. I'll be Okay. Well, you can sit in the back of a car or in the sidewalk. I'll be sitting here. Okay. Sit down. Sit down or in the back of a car? Wait. You pick one. Can you two back of a car or right here? Can you fix this one real fast? My left. It's on my just a little bit. Handcuffs not meant to be comfortable, man. I Do you want to sit on the sidewalk or in the back of a unit? How about if I lean against the unit? You can sit on the sidewalk or in the back of a unit. If I just lean on a unit, back of the unit. I have a bad back from Iraq. We'll be gentle. Ronald claimed to be an Iraq war veteran and that he had not stepped out of the legal bounds of a private security guard. But under New Mexico state law, private security vehicles can only use amber flashing warning lights. Red lights are prohibited. No. Well, he was trying to captain was on the highway and this guy was lighting him up like, "Hey, don't don't pass me. I'm a police officer. He's got a no plate on his car." And looks like he was trying to run away from captain after he identified himself as a police officer. Look, he was backing up as as pulled in. Let me talk to I stayed right here. That way he was obvious distance. He comes up and whenever he comes up in front of me, he turns on his lights again. And so I go to get out whenever I get out. His window's up. The dog window is down. Just that intimidation factor. He wants the dog to be going off at me. And that's whenever uh he rolled down the window. I told him, "Hey man, stop." Whatever. And then like I told him, "Hey man, New Mexico State Police." That's whenever I identified myself and he said, "Show me your badge. It's in my truck." Yep. I can't get it right now. Like I'm letting you know verbally. I am the New Mexico State Police when stopped and said I don't care. I don't care. And that's whenever I stepped in front of his car. Yeah. And he goes just start backing up in the hole. He goes to continue to back up. Told him just stop. I have to say police officers on the way. They're coming right now. And he refused. Refused. Refused. The captain said he first saw Ronald on the highway where he was causing a backup in traffic because he was pulled over. Ronald's excuse for using the lights because he was security was invalid because he was not on private property when he turned them on. And I go to pass him on the right. As soon as I go to pass him, he turns on all of his lights. And that's whenever I see for the first time he has blue lights uh in his front visor. And then so my initial reaction because I was like bumper to bumper pretty much back bumper to front bumper because I hit my brakes and go to pull over. But as soon as I do that, he shuts them all off. like, "Okay, this dude isn't legit." Because he didn't have a plate in the first place. Yeah, there was plates in the door. If you notice that and then he turns them off like multiple times. He's just like using that his lights as like back away from me type of thing like we do. Yeah. After speaking with the captain, the officer went to get Ronald's side of the story. The fake cop claimed the captain was aggressively tailgating his vehicle and refused to show him proper identification. when he started coming up towards me. Then I went towards him and saw what the problem is because you didn't know he didn't identify himself. He didn't show his badge. He's shaking. That was it. Your radio does that connect you. Do you guys have your own personal dispatch or do you Okay. Did you call backup call? No, because right now there's only me coming in early. Are you scheduled to work today? I am. So is there anybody at your dispatch center right now? No, there's u I guess like a lieutenant on duty or whoever. Okay. You understand the right and you understand completely who I am then to Well, you didn't show me your badge. Yeah, that's it. Make a difference. Yeah. Right now is what I'm saying. You understand who I am and why I'm talking to you right now versus a normal victim would be over there standing there completely. So, do you understand who I am now? Once you show me your badge. Okay. Who am I? Oh, not your badge. Okay. Who am I? You're um state police now. Yes. But you didn't show that prior. I didn't. All right. Yeah. So, we're good. That's that's not not necessarily good, you know, but you know, you understand the issue and like I said, the reason as I'm talking to you right now, I want you to understand who I am. The captain was tired of standing by listening to Ronald lie to the officer. So, he decided to interrogate Ronald himself. Ronald continued to claim ignorance and that he had no idea what the captain was talking about. Why did you turn on your lights on? I didn't turn on your lights. You turned on your blue front lights whenever I went to your right front. I didn't. How did I know they were blue? I don't know. Okay, cool. There's there's all in there. So, I don't know if I did. I didn't know what you're doing right now. Okay. By trying to as far as what? As far as lying. Okay. So by Oh, I didn't turn on my lights. Okay. So now number one, you're doing is you're trying to make me out to be a liar. I'm not trying to make you out to be a liar. Just let me finish. Okay. So what's going to happen? So what do you want me to say? I turned on the lights and then we're done. I want you to be honest. I don't know. I turn on the lights because because I have all on there. It's no different than sometimes my mic coming on by me bending. So you know what? I'm not playing game. I'm not playing any game like you. I'm not playing any game. I wouldn't lie. I I wouldn't lie at all. Just wouldn't lie. I have no reason to lie. I have nothing to lose. You know what I mean? Well, actually, I do have a lot to lose if I lie. You do. But you know, because you're impersonating a police officer accidentally like I hit him, bro. I've been doing this for 22 years. 22 years, man. 22 years. So the whole thing of I accidentally turned on my lights, it doesn't apply. And whenever you try and associate it to a mic that you can hit with your chin, like it it's silly. The captain knew the more pressure he put on Ronald, the more he would not be able to keep up with his own lies. Ronald was so desperate to prove that he hit the buttons on accidents that he took the captain to his car to demonstrate. But all he ended up demonstrating was his illegal light setup. Do I understand it? Are you trying to control the flow of traffic just like you're trying to control crime here? I understand it. But you don't have the legal authority to do it as I do not. So that that is why you understand that and why you would like but like I said how all this plays out in the long term depends determined is determined by your actions, your statements, everything like that. and you can admit it. We can deal with it like move on or you can continue to play this little game of accidental cub hit it and whatever. The officers knew that Ronald was refusing to admit guilt because he thought that would save him from going to jail. The officers pivoted their questions to Ronald's background and work history to see what other information they could glean from him. Have you ever been a police officer? Well, I was an LA County Sheriff for 18 months and I quit because I didn't want to do jail time and I only had a few months left to retire from the army cuz the last 14 years I was a Green Beret. Okay. The reason I'm asking is because uh when when I ask for your ID typically we want your driver's license, right? I understand you gave me your property ID. We need your driver's license. It has the numbers on there so we can identify you. Right. I don't know what the point was in refusing or asking me to detain you and Louis doing that. But just so you know, I can charge you for that if I choose to. Okay. Secondly, the pulling away from us as we're trying to detain you. You know what that's called? It's called resisting arrest. I don't know why you would think to do that. I don't know why you would think to get in more trouble. You know what I mean? Next time law enforcement comes up to you. Honestly, it was probably just out of a habit. Not resisting you guys, but where my line of work was. No, I mean clearly you can see they just came back. You got three marked units coming up. Ronald used his excuse as a former soldier to defend his bad treatment of the officers. He also tried to make the captain feel bad by continuously saying the captain was shaking, which caused him to suspect that the captain was lying. And he was shaking. And I understand and you know how many people that I've dealt with here that are shaking when they're confronted. I I get the confusion, you know, he could have and I'm not blaming, but he could have said, "Hey, you know what? In special forces for how long?" 14 years. 14 years. Okay. So before somebody go goes into any tour part of a combative situation, what does their body naturally do? Shakes depends on the person though. Exactly. But it depends on the person. The the difference is is the more combat that you have like body combat. Okay. I was unarmed. You were armed. Okay. My body dumped a of adrenaline because it was naturally preparing for fight just like you said. Ronald was charged with impersonating a police officer and given a misdemeanor citation. Because Ronald had multiple weapons in the car. The officers used his keys to put the weapons inside his trunk and asked him to leave them there until they all drove away for safety. On November 18th, 2023 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, an employee at the local Motel 6 called police after a male customer tried to check into the hotel with multiple weapons. When the officers arrived, they used extreme caution, knowing the male suspect was heavily armed. Hello. Do you have any weapons on you? You just show me your hands. 3723. Show me your hands. I know. I see it. Just show me your hands. Just keep your hands up for me. All right. You can close up. Just keep your hands away from it. Okay. You understand? Okay. I have him with his hands up facing away from us. He showed me a firearm that's on his side. He's also got a couple bags. I'm not sure what else he has. I'm cover. Okay, we're just going to come talk to you, but just stay facing away from us for right now, okay? Don't reach for anything. Okay, just for our safety, we're just going to detain you. Okay, you're not in any trouble or anything like that. Okay, you understand? The man was 38-year-old Tanel Love. He had been previously charged for impersonating a police officer in California and had also been charged with murder in Denver, Colorado, but was later acquitted of that crime. You just come to get a room or kind of got away from Why did three guys came to my house? Who came to your house? Three guys came to my house. Little Creek Police Department. No, three guys. Oh, three guys came to your house. You got some big wrists. What's your name, man? John Doe. John Doe? That's not your name. What's your name, man? Love. Okay, that's really name. Okay. Where's your ID? I asked my wife. She took all my stuff. Your wife took all your stuff? So, you just come here to go to the hotel room or Yeah, it's my stuff. Okay. Tunnel said that his wife took his wallet and he did not have a form of identification on him. He told officers that he did have a CCW in his bag, which is a concealed carry weapons permit. He also told officers he was currently in the United States military. Why don't I just take down your information? That'll probably be easier. And then we can just see if you have a valid CCW, right? I rather just get my You rather what? I earlier just got my I don't want to go through your computer cuz then I I have security clearance. Okay. Well, you're not in any trouble right now. I know. I didn't do anything wrong. So, you didn't do anything. Right. So, we're just trying to verify who you are. That's all. It's not going to revoke any kind of notes or anything like that. I'm prior military, too. It's not It's not going to take anything. It's not like it's running your information. Doesn't flag anything. Okay. I'm not trying to give you a hard time or anything. you just I just don't want to like dig through all your stuff, you know what I mean? The officers looked through Tanel's bag for his CCW paperwork, but were unable to find it. They tried to pull a serial number off the weapons, but they were none because Tanel claimed that he built the weapons himself. I understand you wanted to require your credentials, but you just call my wife. You want us to call your wife? 42. What's her first name? Please leave your message for four. Oh, we just need to verify who you are and that you have a CCW. That's really all we care about. Oh, you just take my guns and I come get them in the morning. We're not saying that you can't have them. We're definitely not trying to take your guns. We're just trying to figure out who you are. That's all. So, how you say this? So now that's you. Mhm. All right, we're getting somewhere. How old are you? I'm 38. 38. I think they can run by the social. Yeah. Huh? Not going to do it over the air. It would be something on like a phone call so that nobody else hears it. We're not trying to broadcast your information to anybody. We just have our job we got to do, right, man? We got to make sure. Unless you want to give him your birthday and then he can just which would be way easier. It's free, dude. Yeah. The faster we get your information, you'll literally be on your way. Just take me to jail. Like, we don't want to take you to jail for it. [ __ ] Okay, let's put it this way. Taking you to jail would be much worse than getting you information. The police knew that something sketchy was going on, but Tel suggesting they take him to jail just furthered their suspicions. Why would a man prefer to go to jail than verify his identity? Then Tanell tried to give an outrageous excuse for why he was behaving this way. Following instructions. You're following instructions from like a lawyer or something or you said you're following instructions. That's our protocol. What's up? That's our protocol. Whose protocol? Your protocol is if the police ask for your information, you're not allowed to give it to us. I mean, I haven't done anything. But you're concealed carrying, you have to verify you have a permit to do that. What state were you wanted? Where's your driver's license out of? California. California. That's where your license is out of. You said you have a Wisconsin permit, though. Like a My driver's permit. Yeah. Okay. We would have been done 20 minutes ago. And I appreciate you giving me the information now. Yeah. The guy I asked him, "Can I get a room without ID?" He invites me to come outside like, "Yeah, we go work it out out here." Like, what? It's not It's not every day they have somebody walk in with a rifle. It was wrapped up in my tote right there. It's just Yeah, I know. I saw it. I mean, I'm just saying he didn't just stumble upon you and say, "Yeah, I'm going to go mess with him." Uh they they asked us to to be here. While one of the officers tried to find Tanel in the police system, the female officer finally got a hold of Tanel's wife. The way the wife was speaking and how she answered questions raised even more suspicions. Babe, I'm out here with the cops. Is my CCW at home? Yeah. Can you can you somehow bring his like I'm in a handcuff? She didn't text you a picture of that. Can you text a picture of me or something? Well, I guess I got to go to Jeff. Can Can you get the number off of it? You're not at home. Okay. Babe, I'm not at home. That's the problem. Not at home. Don't cry. That's okay. We're We'll We'll work through it. We're just he's we're trying to find some sort of ID on him and he doesn't want to give us his name. If he gives us that information, we can get this information. What? Ask her who I work for. That's He said to ask you who he works for. That's what I had. Okay, that's fine. Can you tell us his date of birth? That's up to him to tell you that. No, he's not wanting to tell us that information. The thing is is we we don't want to have to arrest him. He's not under arrest right now. He's just being detained. The wife said Tanell worked for the Patriot Defense Group, which is a CIA contracting company. But after the officers ran his information into their system, they found out Tanell did not have a concealed carry weapons permit, and he was a convicted felon with an open warrant. Okay. So, we're going to go towards my squad right here. Okay. I'm not seeing anything about you having a CCW. Okay. It doesn't look like you have one. Okay. Um, so right now you're going to be under arrest for the CCW violation. All right. You understand? Okay. It looks like maybe you got some stuff out of Denver that needs to get taken care of. Are you aware of that? Is that why you didn't want to tell us who you were? Okay. All right. Um, we're not sure if that's something we'll have to handle right now. Um, just so you're aware. Um, but yeah, it looks like you're not supposed to be possessing any firearms, right? Do you have any other weapons on you other than this firearm? No. Okay. Per police protocol, they had to search Tanel before putting him in the back of the squad car. When the officer lifted up Tanel's sweatshirt to take off his utility belt, he saw something that shined a whole new light on Tanel's intentions. Anything else on you that I need to know about knives, needles, drugs, weapons, anything like that? Anything that's going to harm me? Nothing to harm me, but Okay. What? Do you have the keys real quick? I'm going to pop your pumpk. Sure. And back there. You're looking down at something. So, what do you have? Cough on the ankle. Okay. Is that what you were talking about? Yeah. Belt. Not only did Tanell have a fake police badge on his belt, but he also had drugs inside a glass pipe inside his pocket. Tanell was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and fugitive from justice. He was extradited to Colorado to face charges on his open warrant. On February 23, 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a police officer conducted a routine traffic stop on a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta for a moving violation. While speaking with the driver, the officer noticed some suspicious vehicle add-ons. Hello. Hi, Officer. License to interact, please. Uh, what's your reason for? So back there when you change lanes you change you signal after changing lanes. You have to signal 100 ft prior to changing lanes. I didn't know that. Yep. That's how you change lanes properly. License and insurance please. Is this like some type of old police car or No, I work at the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service. Why do you have your lights on? I was just I had them on earlier and I forgot to talk and drive with them. So used to it. The driver was identified as 25-year-old Manuel Nava. The insurance he handed the officer was expired, and he did not have a current proof of insurance. While searching for correct paperwork, Manuel exhibited odd behavior like humming a song. So, are you working right now? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I was just on the highway. I was taking some video for him. Okay. I got my my triorder right here. I thought, "How are y'all tonight?" Cold. Cold? Yeah. I I got a little bit of frostbite on my toes from earlier this morning when I was out. It was bad. Yeah, it's not getting me warm. No. You want to just give me your license and then you can keep looking for the entrance? There you are, man. All right. Sit tight. Okay. All right. The officer went back to her squad car and ran Manuel through the system. Upon finding items that concerned her, she went back and asked Manuel to step out of his vehicle, which he did not want to do. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and have you step out. Okay. Why? Well, because I told you to. Can you put those down? Do you have any weapons or anything on you? Like anything I need to know about. Am I being arrested? Uh, well, we'll discuss that here in a minute. Okay. Can you unlock the door, please? Do you have any weapons on you? No. No weapons, no firearms, nothing like that. No, ma'am. Okay. Go ahead and step out for me. Why? Face away from me. Excuse me. Okay. Put your hands behind your back for me. Can you interlace your fingers like you're praying? Interlace them. Like put your fingers together. We'll explain all that here in just a minute. Okay. Okay. These are all his lights. Now, he does have red and blues in the front. He told me he didn't. What does it look like from Oh, we should have taken a video of that for her. What is this? A want to be police officer? The officers placed Manuel in handcuffs and put him in the back of the squad car. They searched his vehicle to inspect the light machinery and if the flashing lights were red and blue, which is illegal. While searching, they found another dangerous item. Good. Oh, shoot. I think that's it. I think I showing your light again. I can see that right here so you can see. Take a picture of that. And then we need truck. Another Oh, even better. What kind of logo does that one have? Another one up front with a pepper gun in it. A paper gun. Paper gun. You talking about like OC? Yeah. The officers found a zip up jacket that had a police emblem on it. Inside the man's trunk were fishnetss, ropes, and other suspicious and creepy items, as well as two fake ballistics police vests with a sheriff's office logo on it and an additional police belt. Here's the issue that that we have. Okay. Yes, ma'am. You're driving a vehicle that that says police interceptor on the back. You have a spotlight. You have antennas. You have red and blue lights like we only police officers should have those. Okay? You don't work for the National Weather Service. Okay? And an officer an officer didn't give you those things to put on your car. So you're being arrested for impersonating the police officer. Okay? Do you understand that? No. You cannot you cannot have a vehicle that looks like ours that has lights like we do. You also have a sweater in your front seat with a badge. And you you have yet to provide us any type of credentials. I can provide credentials. We already asked you for those. No. She asked me if I had an ID for a link. So what credentials can you provide us? My certain credentials for what? Community emergency response. So where is it? It's on my phone. It's on your phone. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Well, my lieutenant is checking with the sheriff's office to see if you do in fact work for their emergency management. Okay. The combination of the lights, the police interceptor sticker, all of those things. Can I see your supervisor? Nothing could explain away the vast amount of evidence that Manuel was pretending to be a cop. The officers charge Manuel with felony impersonation of a police officer. He faces up to two years in prison and a possible fine up to $5,000. On November 2nd, 2022 in Eustace, Florida, a male driver was pulled over by police because he had flashing red and blue back window lights. It's illegal in the state of Florida for civilians to have lights that resemble police lights. A lady was pulled off to the side of the road. She had her hazards on. So, I turned around. I accidentally cut off a car. I don't know who it was. Um, then I I have rear red and blues. I talked to an officer before. He said it's frowned upon. He didn't say it was illegal. He said it was frowned upon to have them on. Mhm. I had them on. I was going to have them on for some public safety, but then he pulled up behind me, so I turned them off. So, I figured we had four cars now with hazards on, so we'll be okay. Where Where did this occur at? Whatever gas station's over there at 452 on it's on this road though. Okay. That Yeah, I for that. The driver was 18-year-old Joshua Mazena. He said he was using the lights to escort a woman who had her hazards on to safety. But this driver was a talker and police knew that if they let suspects talk, they eventually incriminate themselves. Joshua was an example of such a suspect. Yeah. I've already been pulled over before. For it? No, not for it. No. Okay. Okay. Um it was a Lake County Sheriff's Office K9 unit. I don't remember the name. Um he got me for speeding then he saw the lights and he's like are you impersonating like no sir I cuz I'm part of car clubs. Okay. And I have them really for car clubs at this time. I'm like oh you know public safety. I don't want someone to get hit late at night. So I turned them on. Right. Um I'm not even going to lie to you. I I didn't So your intentions of turning them on for what? For what reason? To to public safety. Yeah. What was it? So, so if a car comes, was it coming behind you or did you cut it off to get behind a car or how what what I just turned I didn't even see him. Okay. I don't know if he had his lights off or what? And that's when you hit it on, so he Yeah, I hit him on and I pulled off. Okay. Joshua tells officers that he wasn't trying to evade police, but that he did drive away initially when he saw the deputy pull in behind him. He then realized that the deputy was following him, so he pulled off into the gas station because he didn't want to cause any trouble. I have front ones, but they're disconnected from the back. Okay. So, only the back ones are active. Yes, sir. Okay. Um, that's cuz they're they're checking out back. No firearms or anything like that in the car. Airsoft gun back in the trunk. In the trunk. Is that it? Okay. Rifle helicopter in the trunk. The trunk. Okay. You're not even bright. I'll be honest. That's fine. I Yeah. I just wanted to see. Are they on? Nope. Okay. Okay. I I understand people think, "Oh, cop." Yeah, I can see how that's easily construed. I really don't want to get in trouble. Get that from the side. And my intention, like I said, was public safety. It's the opposite of public safety when you confuse drivers and members of law enforcement as to whether or not you're a cop. Joshua continued to film the police on his cell phone. Maybe he thought that would intimidate them to let him go. One of the officers spoke to witnesses on the road and they told a different story. And he was the car behind. So the car came over as soon as the lights went on. Yeah. And he was the car behind. But did you get out of his car to approach that guy or No. Yeah. He said that he got out the car, but then when and then he got out right after he said he looked back, saw him go, gosh, gosh, gosh, you got the dude got out of his So the car pulled over the dude out of his car. Yeah. And that's when he saw him and he saw Lake County was like, "Oh, snap." Got back in his car. Yeah. I mean, trapped you right down the car. I think he ripped his legs out windshield. Based on witness testimonies, Joshua was driving in front of the civilian car that pulled over. But what Joshua didn't know was that there was a deputy behind that car who saw the whole thing. Joshua claimed he originally only put the back lights on because he wanted his car to look interesting at car shows. I got a question about um getting a metal part. If you have a medical card and you have THMC in the car and you get pulled over, if they see that, can you get arrested for that? Even if you have a card, no, you tell them that you have a card. Um, and then they could go further as to wanting to see what you have because a lot of people get the card but still buy it on the streets and try to use the card as a as a gateway for them to have illegal narcotics. Cuz if you have from the streets, then it's not legal. Most of the time I'll take them off. I just I'm just too busy. Sometimes I just forget about them. So, but and then um when I I had I did have grow lights that Lake County ripped off. They they pulled them out. So, I was like, "Okay, I never I they gave them back to me, but I was I'm not able to repair them, so I just threw them away. with those colors. Yeah. Yeah. That one. So that's why it's not even look like a cop car. So go ahead. Yeah. Joshua then admitted he had front lights that were already confiscated from a previous incident which he failed to mention earlier. The officers read Joshua his Miranda rights so they could properly interrogate him. If I could explain myself, I think it would be better. Yes. Um my dad is actually an attorney, not a criminal defense attorney. Um, so do you are you agreeing to talk to us or you not? It's and again it's within your rights to say yes or no. No, I think I've explained to you. Okay. All right. All right. That's just nothing personal. No, I get it, brother. I've been told by my fault. No, that's fine. Listen, no disrespect. No, no, no. It's Listen, bro. It's within your It's your right. It's nothing's taken personal um or anything like that. Yeah. And like I was uh telling S Officer Santos at the time when I got this. Well, I can't I can't talk to you now. Oh, okay. What if I say yes? The officer knew that Joshua wanted to talk and get attention. So, telling him he wouldn't be able to was a good tactic to get Joshua to change his mind and agree. Since the reverse psychology worked, the officer reread Joshua his Miranda rights. You buying it? You buying it? Yeah, he was uh he was taking little pull over and someone checked. All right, here I got victory. What do you say? So, basically, he's saying that he cut him off, which is accurate, right? He turned on these lights, but then he started going over because people were inside the road and she wanted to check if they needed help. Mhm. So, that's why he vehicle to go check on her, saw him. So, I just talked to him. So, she said concerned about this vehicle. He this guy said the guy literally said because he got out of his car and purchased the car in front of him and the get out and the guy looks at him and goes and he gets it back in his car and hauls and then goes to this wild chase. Why would Joshua be running from a deputy if he didn't think he was doing anything wrong? Joshua told officers he only had his license for 2 months. That's quite a lot of trouble to cause just because you have an 8week old license. Have you got any crazy stories? After a while, they don't even be they don't ever become crazy. They just become normal. So when people ask the question like when I you asked me that when I first started, I'll be like, "Oh yeah." But now it's just it's not even crazy no more. It's just another day. I just started a cart club. Okay. Um, and we don't do rowdy stuff like because we don't want to get kicked out of stuff. Um, it's a Mercedes car club. So, currently two members including me. Um, and you know, our purpose is just to show off modifications. Cool. And you know, that's what it was for. Um, and then my buddy, he hadn't seen him and then last weekend he came over. I showed him and yeah, I reinstalled them because I I normally keep them in my trunk. I reinstalled them and I showed him and then I took them off. Gotcha. Have you ever tried to do this before? Pulled somebody over. Yeah. No, I have not. The officer got Joshua to admit that he did indeed try to pull someone over. Joshua also said he purchased the lights on Amazon two months earlier, which means he purchased them the same time he got his license. Josh, do me a favor. Stand up from your way, please. Yes, sir. All right. Do a fetch that way for a second. Together, you are I am. Yes, sir. You are going to be placed under arrest today. Call my mother. I'll let you call your mom, man. Just give me give me a second. Okay. Okay. And what is this? Is this a felony? Uh, the impersonation of a police officer is a felony. So, I'm getting impersonating. Yes, sir. Is there any way I can get off my record? Well, that's something not from us. I I we have no control over that. That's between the the judge and the judicial system. So, what what gets me is I can tell they've been ripped recently. Yeah. This one has in the back seat like this. Yeah. But this one has how many? Yeah. Two, right? Yeah. Mhm. And then if you look at that corner of his uh the dash right there. Yeah. The other one's still up. Oh, yeah. Based on the evidence, it was clear that Joshua's lies were unraveling. But when officers popped the trunk, they discovered another item that was far more alarming and exposed Joshua's true motivations. What are you hidden? Oh, goodness gracious. Oh, yeah. Let's head with it. Hey, Parker, let's get some photographs real quick before you uh It's a Glock imitation right there. Oh, dang. And also back up so it shows what relation to the trunk it is. Yeah, this is uh very worrisome. This must be the rifle here. Yeah. Hey, can you just make sure that's cleared? That looks real. It does. Looks really real. Yeah. Let me get my notes of gloves on. Not touching anything. Joshua never mentioned he had an airsoft Glock handgun. What makes this specific replica gun alarming is that it resembles the exact gun police officers use. Joshua was charged with impersonating a police officer and having illegal red and blue lights. He was held on a $6,000 bond at the Lake County Jail. On February 1st, 2025, an officer in Chicago, Illinois, conducted a routine traffic stop on a vehicle with expired tags. The male driver, 34year-old Scott Pearson, seemed compliant at first, but as the situation unfolded, the driver got caught in a very big lie. How you doing, Mart? driver license terms. Mhm. I stopped you before the expired tags. Yeah, I renewed them and then I got the they spelled the plate wrong. It's not stolen cuz, you know, the radio wasn't up on its own plate and then I went to renew it again and they said that I had to go get the machine tested again. So, Okay. You're from Martinson? Park Ridge. Park Ridge. Yeah. Okay. All right. Give me a second. Okay. When Scott opened his wallet, the officer saw a Star police badge. The officer ran Scott's identification into the police database and returned to confront Scott about what he discovered. You have a an ID from work? Yeah. You know, I don't have one on me. No. No. I work for Park Ridge. I worked for Park Ridge. Okay. I'm not with them anymore. Okay. So, is there a reason why you're carrying that then? Just the wallet I've always had. I don't use it. Use it. Okay. You can take the badge if you want. Okay. Give me a second. Okay. Stay in the vehicle for the officer called the Park Ridge Police and he was informed that Scott had at one point worked for them, but that he was no longer employed there. The officer called his superior to come to the traffic stop location to help decide what to do from there. Uh, do me a favor. Step out the car real quick. Yes. You have anything on you? No, sir. No weapons, nothing we need. Step up. Y face the window for me. Hands up real quick. You got nothing on you. No weapons. No, that's my ass. Then you're showing officer the badge. I didn't show my wallet. I know, but when you're Okay. you have been terminated from a police department or anything, you're not allowed to carry any police identity, no uh badge, no nothing, anything at all because that's pretty much you're impersonating a police officer, which you are no longer a police officer. Yeah. In the state of Wisconsin, but you still have a badge on, right? You showed him the badge and you said you used to work for Park Ridge or Buridge or whatever it was. I asked you uh if you remember, I asked the was is that Arnington and you said, "No, that's Park Ridge." I I work. Yeah. Okay. For any other department at the moment or anything? No. work. Okay. And then do you work for any other department at all? No. But it wasn't just the badge that the officers were concerned about. It was also the fact that the vehicle looked like it had emergency lights installed. Scott told officers the lights didn't work and he never used them. Where's the switch at that would activate them if you didn't have them? Um, it was underneath the front, but they don't work underneath the floorboard. The wiring it doesn't work. Doesn't work. I guess I had the uh they were there when I 7232 count that's the wall that we buy when we cuz I had to pay for the bear you know the wallet one time you said you install that yourself they're just Yeah. I mean I never used them though but you install them yourself. Install those lights. So they're actually police lights that flash like police lights. They are free. I never never remember using them. So, how did they get on there? I But I mean, I put them on myself, but Okay. So, see when I'm on See, listen to what I'm telling you now. You put police lights on a vehicle that you're saying apparently don't work, but you have lights on here. You're carrying around a badge and you're not a sworn police officer. The officers explained to Scott that when he was terminated from his police job, he was supposed to give back his badge and take off all police markings and lights from his vehicle. The officers put Scott in the back of the squad car and searched his car. I've never been on this side. Uh, how does this work or what is What do you mean you never been on this side? other side of the like is it am I going downtown or uh right now I'm taking you to Maywood and then from there I'm going to pretty much just process you and fingerprint you and explain everything else to you. Um the lights are working. Okay. So I got them now on camera. You want to go up there in front with yours? Let's do this first and then I'll I'll do that and then that way it is. Yeah, let me close it up. That's another red flag right there. You told me the lights don't work. You can say all you want to say, but they're plugged in and they're actually working. On top of having illegal lights and an illegal badge, the officer also realized that Scott's windows were tinted too dark and wrote him a citation for that as well. Scott was also given several other traffic citations and was charged with impersonating a police officer. On March 29th, 2024 in Michigan, police were called to a parking lot where a male driver allegedly crashed into a trailer and was exhibiting signs of impairment. Things got even weirder when the responding officer arrived on scene and approached the vehicle. [Music] Did you Oh, [Music] I'm heading towards home, so I'd appreciate it if you or the next step we would take it. What you see here is exactly what I've been watching all time. I've just been standing there. The officers suspected the male driver was intoxicated because of his inability to keep his head up, as well as his slurred speech and incoherent language. The arriving officer also pointed out that the driver was wearing a police uniform. He's got a patrol bag in the back. I don't see any weapons he can grab. His insurance is on the passenger side. At this point, the officers were unsure if this man was a real police officer or not. To gather more information, they spoke with a man who witnessed the crash happen as he was arriving at work that morning. Yeah. I was sitting over there just about two spots over from where he sat in your car. In my car. Right. To go to work. Yeah. Guy pulls up and he stops about right here. Okay. And he's got his light shined right in my window. So I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, okay, maybe it's somebody I'm working with being funny, you know? Sure. So we sit there for a couple minutes. Finally, I went, "What the hell?" So I figured I'll just go around back on the other side of me. Yeah. So I went out and went around the other side of him. And I go around the other side of me. I went down there behind that tractor and turned around and faced back. Yeah. As I did, drove into the front of that trailer. No, you can see the front of his car's You can see it hung up when he backed off. So, he rolls his window down. Well, first I tap on his window. I thought maybe he stroke, heart attack, something like that, you know. Hey, you all right? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. And he reaches over into his glove box. He pulls out his insurance. He starts I says, "Wait, wait. I'm not the police, man. I just, you know, you just ran into this guy's trailer. Oh, well, yeah. Yeah, like that, you know. And I was like, okay. So, I went back, got in my car, and pulled over here. So, I thought, man, I better call the police. The officers were worried that if they startled the disoriented driver, he would put his foot on the gas and try to speed off. The officers decided the best and safest thing to do was to open the passenger side door and put the car in park. [Music] It's better than nothing. [Music] What's that, sir? Yeah. I'm Deputy Rosen with the sheriff's office. Yeah. Can you put your vehicle in park for me? Shut it off. [Music] [Music] Okay, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Without reaching for or touching, do you have any weapons on you? Yeah. What's that? The driver said his name was Mark Wald and that he had taken too much benadryil. The officer was skeptical about this, but the first priority was to get Mark out of the car for safety and properly turn off the vehicle. Do you mind stepping out and speaking with me? I can give you the rest of the Okay. Can you jump out and just speak with me for a minute? Do you mind if I patch you down real quick just for officer safety? Make sure you don't have any weapons on you. What? All right, let's sit over here by my car. Okay, you just want to turn around and face me. Do you have your ID on you at all? All right, it will be in the center console. In the center console. Is that right if we grab that real quick? No. Okay. Is this your vehicle? Uh, that one. Yeah. The last name on Mark's uniform was Nolan, which was a different name than the one he gave the officer. When the officers asked Mark what was going on with him, he said he had unregulated depression. How did you end up here? I was just going for a drive. Going for a drive. Where are you from? T. What's that? T city. Okay. Where do you live at? Jack's Trail. Jack's Trail. Okay. So, you're going for a drive. Where'd you go? Just around. Just around. Okay. Do you know what time it is right now? I couldn't tell that. Okay. What time did you leave your house? Late. Late. Do you know what time? Oh, shoot. What's that? Okay. All right. And you didn't have a destination. You're just going for a drive. Okay. Mark claimed he left his house at 2:00 in the morning. It was almost sunrise when the cops arrived. So that meant Mark drove around for around 4 hours in that belligerent state, possibly endangering the lives of others on the road. Do you know how you got here? No. Okay. Did you drive here? Yes. Have you had anything to drink tonight? No. No drinking. Using any other medication? No. The what? What's that? This keeps going, you know. Okay. Is that a faxelene? What's that do? Wait, let's uh it cuts down on the need to you feel full. You feel more full. You take it. Okay. So, it's a dietary pill. Yeah. Okay. Other than that, you're not taking or using any other medications or anything like that? Yeah. Okay. So, do you remember pulling into this parking lot at all? I do. You do? I do. Okay. Did you strike anything in this parking lot? What' you hit? The trailer. Mark claimed he was only taking amphetamine based diet pills and openly admitted that he ran into the trailer. The next important piece of information the officer needed to find out was why Mark was wearing a police uniform. Is that your shirt? So, it's my best friend shirt. Your best friend shirt? Yeah. Okay. Why are you wearing your best friend's shirt? Because I am incredibly proud of what he has accomplished. Okay. Did you go anywhere else this evening? No. You didn't go to any other facilities or make contact with any other people this evening on your drive? No. Um, so you're just wearing the shirt, right? Do you have any other uniform items? Mark claimed he had no other police items with him and that his best friend worked for the Secret Service. The officers were skeptical about whether or not Mark had consumed alcohol, so they conducted a field sobriety test. So before we get started, easy. Do you have any medical ailments prevent you from driving a motor vehicle? No. No. Okay. No head injuries or anything like that? No. Okay. How about your legs? You feel pretty good on your feet? All right. Um, what's your highest level of education? 12. 12. You graduate high school? Uh, well, I mean 14. 14. I got I have a Associates degree. Associates degree. Okay. All right. So, the first thing I'm going to ask you to do, I want you to stand with your hands at your sides like this. All right. See my finger? Yes. Okay. So, without moving your head, just using your eyes, I want you to follow my finger. Okay. Okay. I'm going to fail the test every time. The officers noticed Mark could barely move his foot forward without wobbling to one side and using the officer's police car as a support. Mark told officers he was not refusing to take the test and he wanted to continue to try. Okay. I don't want I don't want you to fall down. Taking anything else today? Any any other or anything? Heroin, anything like that? Cuz I don't want you to overdose on us. Okay. Are are you on anything else? No. We go to the hospital. Okay. Are you diabetic at all? No. Okay. Hemophilia, anything like that? Any blood disorders? Blood pressure medicine. Okay. Diet. All right. So, I'm going to try and demonstrate one more thing for you real quick. Okay. Yep. So, what I want you to do is stand at hands at your sides like this and then don't start until I tell you to start. Okay. Yeah. All right. We're not even going to I don't want you to fall down. So, why don't you lean on my hood again so I don't have you falling down in the parking lot. Okay. Mark failed all the movement tests and even the alphabet test. The officer asked Mark if he was willing to take a breathalyzer test and Mark agreed. However, a breathalyzer test can only detect alcohol. Well, if you haven't had anything to drink like you're telling me, then this is going to tell me that you have blown zeros and haven't had anything to drink. Blowing zero. What? Are you taking it as prescribed? Um, that one. No. How many did you take today? Three or four. Three. Three or four. Three or four. And what's your prescription amount that you're supposed to take? It's a It's sleeping pill, right? Yeah. You're supposed to take one. I Do you think that's affected your ability to drive a motor vehicle? Yeah, absolutely. When looking through Mark's car, the officers found a prescription bottle of ambient. Mark admitted to taking over the prescribed dosage. You're not supposed to drive on ambient. The drug is intended to put you to sleep, which would account for Mark's drowsiness. So, just based on my investigation right now and what I'm seeing with you, I have concerns that you're operating this vehicle under the influence of your prescription medications. And to make sure that that's not the case, I am going to take you to Mson to get a blood draw. Okay. So, you're under arrest for operating under the influence right now. until we can figure out what else is going on. Okay, over and over. It's the door cuz my key fob's not working. I have eight years clean, you know. All right, just take a seat. Okay, again, we're just completing an investigation right now. Okay, take a deep breath. Take a seat. Nothing about you at all. Can you turn around and just sit down? You got it. The officer drove Mark to jail where he was charged with impersonating a police officer and driving while under the influence. There's no telling what else Mark could have hit, but thankfully police took control of the situation. With men like these out in the streets, it's very important to make sure you're dealing with real police officers. Real officers will always be in complete uniform in a clearly marked squad car and have an identification number on their badges.