A man who was impersonating a police officer was placed in police custody Thursday after he pulled over an off-duty deputy driving on Interstate 4 in Florida, authorities said.
“A car pulls up behind him with white and amber lights flashing,” Amanda Granit, a spokeswoman with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, told WFLA. “And it does not seem to be making much sense to this deputy. He knows this does not look like a typical cop car,” she said.
The off-duty deputy was heading eastbound before he got pulled over.
The real deputy then asked Barry Lee Hastings, 35, for his credentials when Hastings responded that he left them back at the station. Hastings, who used a radio in his vehicle to tell the off-duty deputy to slow down, then asked the deputy to follow him to the station so he could prove it.
The deputy, who was not buying Hastings’ story, called 911 and threatened to get law enforcement involved.
Hastings fled the area until an on-duty Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy stopped him on Branch Forbes Road and then detained him.
Officers found a siren box, a light setup, and a CB radio during a search of the vehicle, but did not find any handcuffs or firearms.
Hastings was charged with impersonating an officer and has since bonded out of jail.
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