SAN ANTONIO – A 31-year-old off-duty prison guard was arrested Sunday on a charge of impersonating a public servant.
Justin Coats was armed and wearing his prison uniform when he was arrested by a Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputy, BCSO spokeswoman Rosanne Hughes said in a news release.
"As a veteran police officer, it certainly runs chills up your spine thinking about the possibilities. In this instance, he was pulling over a single female in a somewhat remote area," Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a press conference Monday.
The deputy stopped to investigate just after midnight when he saw a Ford Crown Victoria with flashing red and blue emergency lights performing a traffic stop at 2100 Cullum Park, Hughes said.
The driver of the other car, a female, stopped because she believed the Crown Victoria was a real patrol car, Hughes said.
Sheriff's officials asked that anyone who was stopped by Coats call BCSO Criminal Investigations Division at 210-335-6070.
Coats works at the Three Rivers Federal Bureau Prison, Hughes said.
She said if residents doubt that they are being stopped by a real law enforcement officer or they are being stopped in an unpopulated area, they should take the following measures.
- Activate their hazard lights
- Slow down, but continue driving
- Gesture to the officer that they intend to stop
- Continue driving in this manner to a populated and safer area
- May ask to see the officer's ID
- Call 911 if in doubt. Be aware of urban legends that tell you to call other numbers
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