Police looking for impersonator who pulled woman over

NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Police in Westmoreland County are looking for a man who they say pretended to be a police officer when he pulled over a young woman Tuesday night.

"I give this girl a lot of credit for thinking and using her head, and (she) figured if it is a police officer, he'll just chase me up the street," Lt. Rodney Mahinske, with the North Huntingdon Police Department, said.

A 19-year-old woman is being praised for her quick thinking that got her out of a sketchy situation with a man who police say was impersonating a police officer in North Huntington.

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"(She) Makes a right turn and notices a small car with a single red light on the roof flashing," Lt. Mahinske said.

The woman was coming out of the Norwin High School campus onto Main Street near Hahntown just after 7 p.m. When she saw the flashing light, she pulled over into an empty business parking lot.

"He walks up to the car, she realizes, it doesn't look like he has a gun on, doesn't look like he has any badge or patches on his uniform, she locks all the doors in the car and cracks the door just a little bit," Mahinske said.

When she asked him why she was pulled over in the first place, Mahinske said. "He got out of the car and asked her to get out of the car, that's the really aggressive point of it. He wanted her out of the car for some reason. Because what would've happened if she did? You don't know, right."

Police are hoping a description of the man will help them track him down.

They say he was tall, in his 20s, clean-shaven, and had sunglasses on his head. He was dressed in dark blue uniform-type outfit.

Police are putting out a warning tonight and are hoping this wasn't just a Halloween prank gone wrong.

"It's not a very smart prank. It could be very dangerous. If he pulled the wrong person off and somebody had a gun, this could've been really ugly," Lt. Mahinske said.

Anyone who witnessed something similar, or who has information, please contact North Huntingdon Township police at 724-863-8800.

Cox Media Group