California Highway Patrol, the Santa Ana office, has announced a rather out of the ordinary traffic stop, which ended in the arrest of an Asian male impersonating an officer of the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force (PAP).
According to a post on the official Facebook page of the office, several calls were made to 911 to report an Asian male driving around Irvine, California, in a black Audi sedan marked with the seal and symbols of PAP vehicles. However, while this one was black, those are in white with blue, so someone must’ve noticed the difference.
“CHP responded to several complaints regarding a male Asian driver, driving a black Audi in the city of Irvine impersonating the Chinese National Police. The Audi had Chinese Police symbols and the Chinese National Seal,” CHP says. “The driver was arrested and charged with impersonating a peace officer and for forging/possessing a fraudulent public seal.”
KTLA5 notes that the man will be prosecuted just as if he’d been impersonating American officers and cites a police source as saying they have no reason for why the man would drive around in such a car. As of the time this went to press, authorities could not say whether the man had performed any traffic stops or otherwise engaged civilians in a PAP officer capacity.
That is why CHP is urging anyone who may have come into contact with a PAP officer to contact them immediately.
KTLA5 says that his is the second incident of the kind in California: this summer, another Asian male driver was arrested after driving a similarly fake car, which he had used to try and pull over an off-duty officer.
For what it’s worth, Irvine has a population that is 41.8% Asian, while another 3.7% is at least partially Asian, adds the same media outlet.
“CHP responded to several complaints regarding a male Asian driver, driving a black Audi in the city of Irvine impersonating the Chinese National Police. The Audi had Chinese Police symbols and the Chinese National Seal,” CHP says. “The driver was arrested and charged with impersonating a peace officer and for forging/possessing a fraudulent public seal.”
KTLA5 notes that the man will be prosecuted just as if he’d been impersonating American officers and cites a police source as saying they have no reason for why the man would drive around in such a car. As of the time this went to press, authorities could not say whether the man had performed any traffic stops or otherwise engaged civilians in a PAP officer capacity.
That is why CHP is urging anyone who may have come into contact with a PAP officer to contact them immediately.
KTLA5 says that his is the second incident of the kind in California: this summer, another Asian male driver was arrested after driving a similarly fake car, which he had used to try and pull over an off-duty officer.
For what it’s worth, Irvine has a population that is 41.8% Asian, while another 3.7% is at least partially Asian, adds the same media outlet.