Highway Scare! Fraudulent Policeman “Waving a Warrant Card” Told Woman to Pull Over on M1
A man dressing as a police officer allegedly ordered a woman driving alone on the highway to stop while flashing what seemed to be a warrant card. The horrified woman told the BBC that she did not pull over, but instead reported the event on the M1 in Leicestershire to the police.
However, due to “poor service” by the two agencies involved, the matter was no longer treated as a criminal investigation after the six-month timeframe for pursuing such an offense elapsed.
According to the woman, she felt the situation was similar to that of Wayne Couzens, who used his police warrant card to falsely arrest Sarah Everard before raping and killing her.
She felt “really let down” by the case.
To stay anonymous, she told the BBC that she was speeding northbound on the M1 in March 2023 when she noticed an unmarked car with a man inside flashing a little black pocketbook with an EIIR Royal-style emblem out the window. She slowed down, and he drove parallel to her, she claimed, before furiously ordering her to pull over.
“He’s looking at me, not the road ahead, and the window wasn’t open on my side, but it was on his passenger side and he’s waving the badge that I can clearly see is a black wallet with a police crest badge stuck on the outside,” she continued. “I immediately remembered Wayne Couzens… I was actually afraid. I was shaking. “I was gripping the steering wheel.”
After failing to stop, the man slowed down and off the highway before the woman reported the incident to authorities and provided the car registration.
Because the guy was related to Northamptonshire Police, the force investigated and discovered that he had worked in a civilian function months before while employed by a contractor. It was then handed on to Leicestershire Police, as the incident occurred in the county, but it took until the end of August for the force to record it as an alleged crime of impersonating a police officer.
The investigation then reached the six-month deadline for charging such an infraction.
In a letter to the woman in February of this year, Northamptonshire Police’s professional standards section stated that the suspect was spoken to over the phone and denied the claims. The letter stated: “Ultimately, you have received inadequate service throughout the course of this investigation.
“Unfortunately, early misinformation that this male was a police officer with Northamptonshire Police led to this becoming a complaint investigation as opposed to a criminal investigation.” Leicestershire Police told The Independent that they were first contacted about the incident in July 2023.
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A representative stated: “Initial inquiries were conducted. However, due to a six-month statutory time limit on prosecuting summary offenses and evidential challenges, Leicestershire Police were unable to move the report further. In reaction, the woman stated, “I feel very let down. I’m still feeling nauseous, panicked, and afraid. I’d call him a phony cop who wants to harm me.”
Following a complaint, the force stated that it had apologized to the woman for the delay in the inquiry. The spokesperson continued: “Leicestershire Police takes any report of impersonation of a police officer extremely seriously however on this occasion our response did fall below the standard expected.”
Following Ms Everard’s murder, Sir Thomas Winsor, a former chief inspector of constabulary, advised ladies to seek a warrant card from an officer if they were concerned about their identification.
Sir Thomas stated on BBC Radio 4’s World at One in 2021: “She should see his warrant card. She should, if feasible, prove that he has body-worn video, but she should generally trust the police. But in Sarah Everard’s instance, everything went wrong.”