Woman pulled over by fake officer, sheriff urges to report any similar incidents

Grant County deputies are looking for a man who impersonated a police officer and pulled over a woman on U.S. 151 Thursday night.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Department said the woman drove past a dark-colored SUV on 151 south of Platteville around 11:55 p.m. When the woman passed the SUV, it pulled out behind her and activated a red and blue dash light, the sheriff’s office said.

When the woman pulled over, a man in his 40s wearing a black T-shirt approached her vehicle with a flashlight. The man asked the woman if she knew why she was stopped, then asked her to leave the car to see an equipment violation, the sheriff’s office said.

The woman asked the man for ID, and when he didn’t show any, she said she was going to call 911. The SUV then drove off to the north, the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff Nate Dreckman said several area law enforcement agencies use unmarked vehicles, with “multiple sources of emergency lights and a siren.”

“If a law enforcement officer attempts to stop you, the first step is to acknowledge the officer’s presence by significantly reducing your speed,” said Dreckman. “If you feel that the situation is not safe to stop, or question the validity of the law enforcement officer, you may continue a short distance to a safer location to stop as long as you maintain your significantly reduced speed. If you still question the validity of the officer, you may always call 911 to verify it is an actual law enforcement officer.”

Dreckman said it appears to be “an isolated incident at this time,” but people should call 911 if a similar situation occurs.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Miller, tmiller@co.grant.wi.gov, 723-2157 ext. 174.