SEQUIM — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a man suspected of posing as a law enforcement officer after a Sequim-area resident said she was pulled over by a fake cop Tuesday.
Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said no actual law enforcement officers attempted to pull anyone over at that place or time.
“We take this seriously because we don’t want the public to lose faith in whether they are getting pulled over by a real police officer or not,” King said.
A woman said a man in an unmarked white Crown Victoria with flashing blue-and-red lights pulled her over near Old Olympic Highway and North Fifth Avenue near Sequim and repeatedly asked for license and registration, King said.
“She didn’t think it was right,” he said. “She questioned him as to why she was being stopped or detained.”
Not believing she was pulled over by a real law enforcement officer, the woman drove away and called police.
She described the man as being 50 to 65 years old with average-length gray hair, wearing an all navy-blue outfit, which she said looked like something an officer would wear.
She said the man did not have a gun belt and wore aviator-style sunglasses, King said.
The sheriff’s office has a “person of interest” but had not made contact with him by Tuesday afternoon.
King said anyone pulled over for a traffic stop who doubts it is being done by a law enforcement officer should call 9-1-1.
He also recommended driving slowly toward a well-lit and populated area if possible.
The majority of law enforcement vehicles are marked and will have a light bar on top of the vehicle.
King said there have been no other recent reports of a person posing as an officer.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the sheriff’s office at 360-417-2459 or email sheriff@co.clallam.wa.us.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.