Popeye C. Whittingham, 47, of New York, NY, was arrested after troopers conducted a stop along Interstate 95 north by exit 17 in Westport.
Whittingham allegedly pretended and played himself off as a New York City police officer until he was arrested on Wednesday, the Connecticut State Police reports.
Authorities have reported that they have received a number of 911 calls from drivers who claimed a Nissan SUV with a partial New York registration plate was traveling on and off the center median.
The said same vehicle was also reported passing traffic, tailgating vehicles, splitting lanes and cutting from side to side.
According to the callers, the traffic violations were all done while the vehicle’s front and rear emergency lights were activated.
A couple of troopers who handles a couple of crashes in the area saw the Nissan pass them. When they did their research, they said they have found that the SUV was registered to a private person and that the registration itself was expired but when they got the chance to pull over Whittingham, he led them to believe that he was an officer with the New York City Police Department and he even displayed a detective badge.
After investigating further, the troopers determined that Whittingham had no such powers. He’s found to be a volunteer clergy bishop with the 32nd precinct in New York City.
They also found that Whittingham has an arrest history for criminal attempt to commit murder and a weapons violation out of New York State. Wittingham was also found to go by a number of aliases.
Following Wednesday’s arrest, he was charged with impersonation of a police officer, unauthorized use of colored or white lights and a number of motor vehicle violations but has since posted a $2,500 bond.
He is due in Norwalk Superior Court on May 3.