Authorities investigating a pair of traffic stops made by suspected police impersonators in Florida’s St. Johns County said Thursday that one of the incidents was legitimate.
Officials with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said in an alert issued Wednesday that two women were pulled over by suspected police impersonators in separate incidents on the Duval County/St. Johns County line.
Authorities determined that a stop reported near County Road 210 was initiated by a man working for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Officials said the man was wearing a plastic tag around his neck that read “JSO Detective.” The man was driving a car issued by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The women that were pulled over in both incidents are nurses, spurring fears that the incidents might be related. However, St. Johns County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday that the information shared Thursday “reduces the likelihood there is any connection” between their occupations and the incidents.
Authorities continue to investigate the second report.
Original report: The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in Florida said Tuesday that it is investigating two incidents of fake police officers pulling over motorists on I-95 south of Jacksonville.
The women who were pulled over both work as nurses at Jacksonville-area hospitals and gave law enforcement officers two different descriptions of the men who pulled them over.
In the first incident, authorities said that a nurse was on I-95 on the way to work when a car with flashing red and blue lights came up behind her.
She described a white male in his 50s with very short (or shaved) hair who approached her car asking for her driver’s license and stated she was speeding. She said he was wearing a tan uniform with a name tag of Moyer or Moer.
While the man was looking at her license and explaining the speed limit, the woman noted that he did not have a gun or gun belt on. The driver also said the man advised her about a ticket cost that would not have been accurate for the violation and told her he was from St. Johns County.
St. Johns County deputies do not wear tan uniforms.
The fake cop told the nurse she could “consider this a warning” and handed her license back to her after studying it, authorities said.
In the second instance, a female nurse was traveling south on I-95 on her way home from work when red and blue lights -- apparently mounted at the top of the windshield -- came on behind her.
This time, the vehicle was described as a dark-colored Chevy four-door sedan. She said the man who stopped her was a short, thin black male who wore rimmed glasses, a blue polo shirt and a black hat.
The woman said the man who pulled her over had a plastic tag around his neck that read “JSO Detective” and he identified himself as a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detective.
As with the first incident, the fake cop said he stopped her for speeding and asked for her driver’s license. The driver stated he did not show a badge or any identification and did not appear to be armed.
After returning her driver’s license, the fake officer drove off, exiting onto County Road 210, and was not seen again.
The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.
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