Florida Man Arrested For Using Chevy Camaro To Impersonate Police

A car dealership employee was arrested by police in Jacksonville Florida after using a Chevy Camaro to impersonate a police officer.

This bizarre story began when a real officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office saw a yellow Chevy Camaro pull another vehicle over in I-95, as reported by Action News Jax. Under the impression the Chevy Camaro driver was an undercover officer, the JSO officer pulled over nearby in case he needed help with the traffic stop. He then observed the Chevy Camaro driver standing next to the car’s driver’s side window before he handed something back to the driver and drove away.

The JSO officer thought it was strange the Chevy Camaro driver did not acknowledge his presence or thank him for providing backup, so he followed the vehicle and ran its tags. Somewhat surprisingly, the Camaro came back as being a police vehicle, however it was registered to the nearby city of Green Cove Springs rather than Jacksonville. The officer then pulled up alongside the Camaro to wave to the officer, as is customary with many departments, but the sole male occupant of the vehicle did not wave back.

Still suspicious, the JSO officer called the Green Cove Springs Police Department to inquire why one of their officers would pull someone over outside of their jurisdiction. A dispatcher then told the officer the Chevy Camaro he had seen was recently brought into the Duval Ford dealership to have police lights installed. A subsequent investigation conducted by the Green Cove Springs police found the Chevy Camaro driver was actually a Duval Ford employee who had decided to use the vehicle to impersonate a police officer.

The suspect, 41-year-old Fernando Torres of Orange Park, Florida, was later arrested and charged with false impersonation of a law enforcement official and unlawful use of blue lights. He was also fired from the Ford dealership, which should go without saying. In a statement, Duval Ford said it “fully cooperated with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office,” during the investigation and had no further comment to provide on the matter.

Check out the Action News Jax report on this rather strange story embedded below.

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