A Littlerock woman was reportedly pulled over and asked to exit her vehicle by a man posing as a police officer Wednesday morning, but when she noticed there was something off about the self-described officer, she made it appear as if she was calling 911 and he fled from the scene.
At about 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was notified about a man who appeared to be impersonating a police officer and had pulled over a woman who was driving on Littlerock Road Southwest near 93rd Avenue Southwest, according to Sergeant Roland Weiss.
The woman, Nikki Gatton, a Littlerock resident, posted about her reported encounter with the imposter cop on Facebook.
“It struck me as weird right away. His uniform said Seattle Police Department and he had no badge or name tag and his light was just a single light that was in the middle of his dash that he did not leave on while I was pulled over,” Gatton wrote in a Facebook post.
The suspect told Gatton the vehicle she was driving looked like one that had been reported stolen and that she matched the description of the individual who stole it, said Weiss.
The fake cop asked for Gatton’s license, took it back to his vehicle for an unusually long time, then came back and asked Gatton to step out of the vehicle, said Weiss.
“When he came back he asked me to get out of the car but it absolutely didn’t feel right,” Gatton wrote. “ … I didn’t have my cell on me but I told him I was going to call 911 and grabbed my Ipad as if to do so.”
Then, according to Gatton’s post and the account she gave to police, the officer said he would wait in his vehicle while she called 911, but instead, fled the scene.
Gatton eventually did contact law enforcement who confirmed that her traffic stop was illegitimate.
Gatton described the man to the Sheriff’s Office as a white male in his thirties with dark hair and a medium build.
For now, Gatton’s encounter is an isolated incident, said Weiss, but they don’t have a suspect and are being wary of the possibility that a similar stunt could be pulled.
Weiss said if anyone in Lewis County sees someone who looks like they are impersonating a police officer to also notify Thurston County Central Dispatch at 360-704-2740 to assist them in finding the culprit.
