Fake Cops Robbing on the East Side

**48205to24** · July-22-13, 09:39 AM

"Police are working to track down two men posing as officers.Early Sunday evening, the men allegedly pistol-whipped customers pumping gas at the Citgo gas station near I-94 and French Rd. on Detroit's east side. They took off with the victims' cash and cell phones.
The suspects are described as white men about 30 years old, driving a black Ford 150. They had police badges, guns and bullet-proof vests.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/p...z/-/index.html

Investigators believe these men may be responsible for another recent robbery in the city, where crooks posing as officers targeted innocent people.
In that case, a man was pulled over on Harper Ave. near 3 Mile Dr. Three men, two white and one black, exited the unmarked Crown Victoria. As the victim answered questions from one of the men posing as a police officer, the other two rifled through the victims car, stealing his wallet and CD's.
Detroit Police are now warning citizens that is someone approaches you identifying themselves as a police officer and something doesn't feel right, call the police yourself."

I always planned to drive to the nearest precinct if I didnt feel comfortable being pulled over, but I dont know how that would work if the precincts close early. I guess you can call 911 and hope that the system is working....

**bailey** · July-22-13, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by 48205to24

Detroit Police are now warning citizens that is someone approaches you identifying themselves as a police officer and something doesn't feel right, call the police yourself."

I always planned to drive to the nearest precinct if I didnt feel comfortable being pulled over, but I dont know how that would work if the precincts close early. I guess you can call 911 and hope that the system is working....

So long as the DPD understands that someone's failure to stop/cooperate could be due to some feeling of uneasiness and they are heading to a precinct/calling 911 and not making an attempt to flee.

**Jimaz** · July-22-13, 12:08 PM

Where'd they get the badges? Oh. Google Images shows all kinds of badges. It would be easy to fake one with that.

Found this interesting website: http://www.detroitpolicegear.com/. No badges there.

I imagine DPD is giving this a high priority just because of the confusion it would cause with all their other activities.

**DetroitPlanner** · July-22-13, 12:27 PM

They don't indicate that they are fake Detroit Police officers. Shields of City, County, State and feds are all different.

We need to get these guys before they get us! If you chose to evade them and they turn out to be real cops then you're in trouble. If you stay then you're definitely in trouble!

**poobert** · July-22-13, 01:23 PM

"
Detroit Police are now warning citizens that is someone approaches you identifying themselves as a police officer and something doesn't feel right, call the police yourself."

Okay, and then what? Wait a minimum of 58 minutes for the cops to come? There's a reason these guys are doing this in Detroit and not, say, Grosse Pointe. I can tell you I've called the cops a few times in the past few months and THEY DO NOT SHOW UP.

**chicagoforlife** · July-22-13, 02:32 PM

I would drive out of the city of Detroit if I could and then call 911 if they were still attempting to pull me over. I'm sure 911 is a better system outside of the city limits of Detroit than inside the city limits.

**ct_alum** · July-22-13, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by 48205to24

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/p...z/-/index.html

"Police are working to track down two men posing as officers.Early Sunday evening, the men allegedly pistol-whipped customers pumping gas at the Citgo gas station near I-94 and French Rd. on Detroit's east side. They took off with the victims' cash and cell phones.
The suspects are described as white men about 30 years old, driving a black Ford 150. They had police badges, guns and bullet-proof vests.

Investigators believe these men may be responsible for another recent robbery in the city, where crooks posing as officers targeted innocent people.
In that case, a man was pulled over on Harper Ave. near 3 Mile Dr. Three men, two white and one black, exited the unmarked Crown Victoria. As the victim answered questions from one of the men posing as a police officer, the other two rifled through the victims car, stealing his wallet and CD's.
Detroit Police are now warning citizens that is someone approaches you identifying themselves as a police officer and something doesn't feel right, call the police yourself."

I always planned to drive to the nearest precinct if I didnt feel comfortable being pulled over, but I dont know how that would work if the precincts close early. I guess you can call 911 and hope that the system is working....

How do you know that they're fake? DPD hired people with criminal records in the 80's. Just sayin..................

**Cincinnati_Kid** · July-22-13, 05:01 PM

I see a lot of ex-police cars being driven by the general public. Probably purchased at a auction. These cars shouldn't be sold to the public IMHO. There have been numerous times where I would look in my rearview mirror and see a Crown Vic with a pushbar up front behind me, thinking it was a un-marked police car, only to find out moments later it was a ex-cruiser driven by John Q Public. They need to take these cars off the road.

**Meddle** · July-22-13, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by ct_alum

How do you know that they're fake?

That was my first thought.

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

These cars shouldn't be sold to the public IMHO.

They need to take these cars off the road.

Wrong.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · July-22-13, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

That was my first thought.

Wrong.

That's YOUR opinion. Not a consensus.

**sumas** · July-22-13, 07:20 PM

Did have an acquaintance who had his car stolen by fake cops on Haverhill and Mack but that was maybe 3 or 4 yrs back.

**compn** · July-22-13, 07:28 PM

i dont understand.
the robbers were armed.
why did they need the costumes?

**sumas** · July-22-13, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by compn

i dont understand.
the robbers were armed.
why did they need the costumes?

No need to be rude. I wasn't there. They had the car the lights and badges. They told him to leave his keys and he could take a walk. No clue if he was speeding, coming from a bar etc. Frankly not my business. His car was found stripped by Davidson and 75.

So do you want to "shoot" me for telling one persons story. It is a true story. We helped pay to have it towed.

**wolverine** · July-22-13, 08:35 PM

It's been 24 hours, they stole cell phones and haven't been caught yet???

Do Police Work Faster, time to track the phones is running out! This should be absolute top priority. 24 hours too long.

**sumas** · July-22-13, 08:45 PM

Actually does bother me. This is so close to my neighborhood.

**compn** · July-22-13, 09:46 PM

i'm so sorry sumas, i was talking about this threads story, not of your friend.

**old guy** · July-22-13, 11:06 PM

That is a tough situation, and probably one the perpetrators are using. They know that you're probably worried about simply driving away from a squad car that's pulled you over. It's a scary deal to just leave the scene under the assumption that they might not be real cops with reasonable cause to pull you over. Not sure what I'd do in a situation like that.

I don't know what Detroit's like these days, but I can remember being pulled over by the Big 4 on several occasions and you couldn't really tell who they were. But you did comply, because... you just did. It was a good way to stay alive. At least that was the way I saw it. I'm still around.

**detroitsgwenivere** · July-23-13, 01:41 AM

Fake cops tried to rob some friends and I after exiting an apartment at capital park, about 15 years ago. 2 middle aged white dudes pulled up in a black suv wearing state police ballcaps talkin shit and waving around a stun gun. At first we were scared, being taken off guard by their abrupt arrival. But after noticing the beerguts and their lack of coordination upon exiting their vehicle, one of us called our friend upstairs. He promptly brought down his pitbull named Ruckus, who chased them into their truck and all the way through the alley past Grand River, while all of us rolled around laughing hysterically. Good times.

**Gistok** · July-23-13, 02:42 AM

I had a very similar situation happen about 3 years ago. I was driving west on I-94, probably going 70 [[like most people)... and suddenly what looked like an unmarked cop car pulled up behind me and gave me the bright searchlight. I wasn't sure if it was a real cop or a fake one with an old cop car, so I switched lanes several times for the next mile [[always using my turn signal), and the guy was sort of following me, but not using his turn signal at all... and sometimes even appearing to almost cut some cars off.

So when I got near the I-96 interchange I was in the middle lane, and hit the gas and quickly got in front of a truck in the right lane and made the turn off onto I-96 west. The guy in that car had no chance to get over, so I thought I lost him, and got off I-96 at Joy to get back towards I-94. Then all of a sudden sirens were blaring and it was that guy, who was in an unmarked cop car.

He yelled at me, yelling why I was trying to evade him... I snapped back at him in a loud tone saying that any REAL officer would be using his turn signal and not cut people off driving on the freeway, and was why I thought he was a fake cop.

He took my license, went back to his car... saw that there was no problem with my record... and walked back to my car handed me my license back and and just walked away silently and drove off. I then went about my way... a bit shaken... but also somewhat pissed off...

**ccal** · July-27-13, 10:04 PM

I just saw on the news that it was actual police, one officer was arrested at the 12th precinct today according to channel 4 news.

**Vic01** · July-27-13, 11:04 PM

Originally Posted by ccal

I just saw on the news that it was actual police, one officer was arrested at the 12th precinct today according to channel 4 news.

Hey, with all the pay cuts, how are they going to feed their families? gotta make ends meet, right?

**night-timer** · July-27-13, 11:43 PM

Well, indeed be sceptical about being pulled over if there is nothing to pull you over for! Were you speeding? No. Car not roadworthy? No. Wanted for something else [[arrest warrant)? No. Ran a red light? No. Alcohol or drugs affecting your road skills? No... then be careful who's stopping you.

**Honky Tonk** · July-28-13, 02:30 AM

Originally Posted by ccal

I just saw on the news that it was actual police, one officer was arrested at the 12th precinct today according to channel 4 news.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/f...m+-+Local+News)

**sumas** · July-28-13, 05:17 AM

That is amazingly creepy. Wonder how they figured it out, closed camera at the station perhaps. Back in the day rogue cops would pull lone women over to rape them.

In no way am I denigrating our officers, our police work a hard and often thankless job. But a rogue is a rogue, happens. The question remains, why?

**compn** · July-28-13, 05:38 AM

i figured something about this story was strange.
wonder if this will hit national or international headlines?
'detroit, so bad, even the cops rob you.'