EL DORADO -- The Union County sheriff's office is investigating after receiving two reports in recent days about someone impersonating a law enforcement officer and pulling over drivers.
About 11 p.m. Wednesday a woman called 911 emergency dispatchers and told them her 15-year-old son was being stopped by what appeared to be an unmarked, white law-enforcement vehicle with red and blue dashboard lights in the area of Arkansas 335, known locally as Del-Tin Highway, and Parnell Road.
Dispatchers confirmed there were no Union County sheriff's office units in the area at the time.
Deputies later spoke with the boy at his residence, and he told them that he pulled into the parking lot of a business in the 4400 block of Haynesville Highway/Arkansas 15 to reply to a text message.
When he pulled back onto the highway, he noticed a vehicle approaching him from the south.
The boy said he turned onto Del-Tin Highway, and as he neared the entrance of the Del-Tin Fiber facility, the vehicle, which had also turned onto the Del-Tin Highway, activated red-and-blue dashboard lights.
He said he was speaking to his mother at the time to let her know what was happening, and he told her, "This is not the police."
The boy said he drove back onto the highway, and the suspect then turned off the flashing lights and turned east on Parnell Road, the boy told deputies.
He described the suspect's vehicle as white with tinted windows.
A similar incident was reported to the sheriff's office about 8:30 p.m. July 23 on Parnell Road.
A woman told deputies then that she was stopped by an unmarked, white older-model police car with red and blue emergency lights inside the car.
She said a man approached her car with a gun drawn and ordered her to exit the car.
The man then commanded her to place her hands on the hood of her vehicle, and he patted her down.
According to a sheriff's office report, the suspect told the woman she matched the description of a Hispanic woman he was looking for.
The woman said she felt as if the man was sexually assaulting her, telling deputies that the "pat down was more than what she believes is standard," according to the report.
The suspect was described as a white man, about 40 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, and clean shaven.
He was reportedly wearing a star-shaped badge on his hip, and he pulled a similar badge from his pocket.
The Union County and Ouachita County sheriff's offices subsequently issued an alert for the suspect's vehicle.
Union County Sheriff Mike McGough said investigators have identified a person of interest in the case.
McGough offered some advice for people who are being pulled over and feel uncertain about the situation.
"Pull over in an area where you feel safe. If you're unsure, crack your windows and don't unlock the doors. Call 911," he said.
Citizens who do not feel safe should keep driving to the nearest police department.
"If the officer is real and official, and you don't stop, you'll have a whole bunch of police behind you," the sheriff said. "If not, he is not likely to follow you."
Unmarked vehicles are used by the sheriff's office by officers from the Criminal Investigative Division, but most are dark gray, with the exception of a couple that are blue and black, McGough said.
Most of the unmarked vehicles also have a push bumper.
"Our cars have reflective license plates and a badge number that says Union County Sheriff on the front," McGough said.
"Our lights and sirens are all blue. A lot of departments have blue and red lights, but ours are all blue," he noted.
Metro on 07/31/2016