Fake Cop Pulls Over Real Cop In Criminally Stupid Phoenix Case

An Arizona man arrested for trying to pull over a car by flipping on fake emergency lights may have gotten away with the crime except for one piece of remarkably bad luck described in court papers: the fake cop pulled over real cops traveling in an unmarked patrol car.

Stupidity, of course, would also have to be cited as a major factor.

The ordeal began Wednesday when 44-year-old Matthew Allen Disbro, of Mesa, was dressed in the uniform from his job as a private security job and driving on State Route 51 in Phoenix in his black Dodge Charger, which authorities say he had equipped with police-style emergency lights, a siren and a police scanner.

Disbro, authorities say, flipped on those lights and tried to pull over a car that in most every way looked like any other vehicle on the road driven by any other civilian. Except was not like any other: it was an unmarked patrol car manned by two Arizona troopers.

The troopers ran a check of Disbro's license plate, which revealed the car belonged to a private citizen and not a public agency, officials said.

The troopers did not pull over, at which point Disbro drove alongside them and yelled and waved his hand at them, according to a news release from the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

"The troopers then identified themselves by activating the police emergency lights on their patrol vehicle and initiated a traffic stop on the impersonator," the news release said.

Disbro was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a police officer and booked into a Maricopa County jail.

It wasn't immediately clear whether any other motorists had been pulled over by Disbro, DPS said. DPS asks that anyone who has had contact with Disbro or has been stopped by a Dodge Charger with law-enforcement-style emergency lights to call the department at 602-644-5805.

“Motorists need to feel confident that when they are pulled over by law enforcement they are dealing with a state - certified peace officer. Criminal behavior like that exhibited by the suspect, undermines public confidence and makes it difficult for troopers and other law enforcement officers to perform their job,” AZDPS Major Deston Coleman of the Highway Patrol Division said in a statement.

Photo courtesy Arizona Department of Public Safety