Woman pulled over by man pretending to be police officer in Brookfield

BROOKFIELD, Mass. — An older man pretended to be a police officer and pulled a woman over in Brookfield last week, according to a warning issued by police.

Stephanie Reynolds told police she was pulled over by a black or dark blue ford ranger pickup truck with flashing red lights around 3:30 p.m. on September 19 on Quaboag Street.

"I just thought it was a volunteer firefighter," Reynolds said. "That's why I pulled over to let him go. Then when he pulled over behind me, I thought something was wrong."

The woman said a mid-60s white man with shoulder-length gray hair and a 6-inch gray beard approached and asked for her license and registration. According to police, he told her he was an off-duty police officer and would be mailing her a ticket for $109.

"He was wearing jeans and an old, yucky T-shirt," Reynolds said. "His hair looked like it was all uncombed. It was long and his beard, I don't know, it was kind of dirty."

She told police she felt uncomfortable and told him she wouldn’t give him any documentation. That’s when police say he got back in his truck and quickly left the scene.

"I don't know what his intentions were," Brookfield Police Chief Michael Blanchard said. "As soon as the vehicle got behind her, that would have been a good time to call 911."

Reynolds said she didn't want to call 911 in case the man was actually with the police department.

"I didn't want to get into trouble if he was a police officer," Reynolds said. "I didn't want to get into trouble, but it ended up creeping me out too much, so I left."

Police say the man is about 6 feet tall and is overweight.

Police say they haven’t heard of any similar incidents, but are urging vigilance and asking people to report any similarly suspicious behavior.

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