Fake cop stops drivers in East Meadow, Baldwin

Detectives are looking for a man who posed as a police officer in East Meadow and Baldwin on Sunday.

Nassau County police described the subject as a white man between 30 and 40 with a crew cut, wearing tan khaki cargo shorts and a white tank top, and displaying a gold star-shaped badge around his neck. Police released a composite sketch of the subject on Thursday morning.

While driving a white or cream-colored Mitsubishi Gallant northbound on Grand Avenue at about 7:10 p.m., the subject struck a 2005 Toyota driven by a 45-year-old man, police said. According to detectives, the impersonator blocked the victim's driver's-side door with his car so he could not exit the car. The subject then approached the victim, identified himself as a police officer and demanded a license and registration, police said. The victim was suspicious, detectives said, and requested credentials and the presence of a uniformed police officer, which the subject ignored. 

At a news conference on Tuesday, Detective Sgt. Anthony Repalone explained that when traffic began to back up behind the two stopped vehicles on Grand Avenue, the victim persuaded the subject to move his car. That allowed the victim to get out of his vehicle and run across the street to a Baldwin firehouse, Repalone said, where he called 911. The subject fled the scene, but showed up later in East Meadow. 

There, just after 9 p.m., on Merrick Avenue near Front Street, a 21-year-old in a Honda saw a vehicle approaching him from behind at a high speed, nearly striking his vehicle. The subject approached him on his left side and yelled at him to pull over. The victim pulled over at Front Street, and the subject used his vehicle to block the victim’s car.

The victim did not comply with demands to produce his license and registration. He eventually put his car in reverse and fled the scene. 

Police said they believe both incidents were the work of the same man, having found similarities in his appearance, attire and demeanor. They said the subject was in an agitated state in both instances. Though it appears that no emergency lights or sirens were used, the subject shined a flashlight at the East Meadow victim.