Several police departments in Colorado have issued warnings about police impersonators after drivers were pulled over by people who claimed to be enforcing the state’s stay-at-home order amid the spread of the new coronavirus, the departments said.
A woman in Aurora was pulled over around midnight Wednesday by someone driving a dark Ford Crown Victoria, equipped with red and blue emergency lights, near East 6th Avenue and Havana Street, the Aurora Police Department said. A young man went up to the woman and asked her why she was out during the stay-at-home order.
“The woman noticed his uniform did not have a patch, badge or name tag,” the police department says in a warning posted on social media. “After a brief conversation, the male told her she could leave, and she reported the incident later that day.”
The man was described as 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, white and “well-groomed,” police said. He was wearing a dark-blue pressed uniform.
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Two days later, a woman in Erie was on her way to work when she was pulled over by a “black vehicle with flashing emergency lights” around 9 a.m. on East County Line Road near Moffat Street, the Erie Police Department said. A man went up to her vehicle and told her she was pulled over for a headlight violation.
“He did not ask for her license or vehicle paperwork, but asked where she was going,” the police department said in a public notice. “When she advised him her place of employment, he told her to return home due to the stay-at-home order. The male then reportedly followed her to her nearby residence before leaving the area.”
Then, on Saturday, several drivers told the Greeley Police Department that they were stopped in roadblocks and questioned for “violating the COVID-19 law,” the department said.
“Reports have all described unmarked type vehicles with dashboard mounted red & blue lights; black uniforms with no markings or badge & duty belts with little equipment,” a Greeley police Public Safety Alert says.
Each of the three police departments issued the following instructions for staying safe if you’re pulled over:
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