Officials are searching for a man who they say pulled a woman over while impersonating a police officer.
Police say it happened Monday around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Evansburg Road and Germantown Pike in the Evansburg section of Lower Providence Township. The man activated a blue emergency light on the dashboard of his vehicle, signaling the female driver in front of him to pull over, according to investigators. Police say the woman pulled into a nearby lot and the man walked toward her vehicle.
The man had a conversation with the woman but did not try to make her leave her vehicle, according to investigators. Police also say there was never any physical contact between the man and the woman. After a brief conversation, the man allegedly returned to his vehicle and both he and the woman drove away. She called the Lower Providence Township Police Department on Tuesday to report the incident.
Credit: Lower Providence Township Police
The suspect is described as a man in his 50’s with short, brown hair, standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 190 pounds. Investigators also say he was wearing a dark Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) style uniform with a circular patch on the left sleeve and did not have a badge displayed. His vehicle is described as a small, four-door tan vehicle with tinted windows and a blue dashboard mounted light.
Police released a composite sketch of the suspect on Thursday. They also released the following message:
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The Lower Providence Township Police Department would like to advise motorists that vehicles equipped with only blue lights are not authorized to effect vehicle stops in Pennsylvania. Police vehicles in Pennsylvania, both marked and unmarked, must be equipped with a combination of red and blue emergency lights. Also, if you are being signaled to stop by an unmarked vehicle that you believe may not be a police vehicle you may continue to drive at a slow speed to a safe, well lit, populated area before pulling over. You may call 911 and advise them that you are being stopped by a vehicle that you believe may not be a police vehicle and the dispatcher may advise the officer of the reason that you are not stopping. Once you have stopped for an officer in an unmarked car, you may request that a marked police unit respond, as well, to confirm that the unmarked police vehicle is legitimate.
If you have any information on the suspect’s identity, please call the Lower Providence Township Police Department at 610-539-5901.
