Bucks County residents on edge after man impersonated police officer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Falls Township Police are warning residents about a man impersonating a police officer.
They say the man pulled a woman over early Saturday morning. He apparently had red and blue lights, wore a uniform and even had a badge.
Both law enforcement and neighbors CBS News Philadelphia spoke with say they're unsettled by this incident.
The biggest question we heard from the community Monday was: "How do you know if an unmarked car is legitimate?
We took that question straight to the police.
"We've all been really talking about it a lot," Elizabeth Kearney, of Yardley, said.
Kearney and her 22-year-old daughter, Sarah, say the talk around Bucks County is of a man police say allegedly impersonated an officer over the weekend.
"As a mom, terrifying not just for my kids but for everybody cause it's really scary. I know for a fact that probably my one daughter – no matter what – would pull over thinking 'Oh I have to pull over,'" Kearney said.
It all happened just after midnight on Saturday outside of a Wawa on West Trenton Avenue in Morrisville.
Falls Township police say a 31-year-old woman called them after a dark-colored SUV with interior red and blue flashing lights pulled her over.
They described the suspect as a White man in his 30s, clean-shaven, wearing a plain uniform with a badge and flashlight.
Detectives say no threats were made during the incident.
"You gotta respect the authorities but you don't know who's really a cop and who's not at this point, it's terrifying," Sarah Kearney said.
"We don't want people out there pretending to be law enforcement – you don't know what their intentions are and you don't want the public's anxiety level to be raised even higher," Chief Nelson Whitney said.
Whitney walked CBS News Philadelphia through things to look for to know if an unmarked car is indeed legitimate.
First – even ghost cars in his department have some sort of markings.
"They'll have the police written on the side with Falls Township and they'll have push bumpers and spotlights," Whitney said.
Another tip is to see the location of the red and blue flashing lights.
"They won't be mounted low, as was described by the victim in this case. Ours are always mounted up here," Whitney said.
Falls Township Police have not made any arrests as they are "aggressively investigating" the incident.
No surveillance video has been recovered at this time.
Police add if you're still uncertain if an officer in an unmarked car is pulling you over, you can call 911.
Dispatch will know whether or not that person is an officer, and if not, they can send a real officer to help.