A state Department of Correction employee is accused of pulling over a speeding car under the guise that he worked for a sheriff’s department, a sheriff said.
Drew County Sheriff Mark Gober said that Terreondrik Robinson, 21, was in a white Dodge Charger on U.S. 65 between Winchester and Tillar the morning of Sept. 10 when he blinked his lights at a speeding truck and stopped the vehicle on the highway.
Gober said that Robinson approached the truck, asked the driver about his speed and checked the driver’s identification.
A part-time Gould Police Department officer who knew Robinson — and knew the 21-year-old wasn’t with the sheriff’s office — arrived on scene and told the truck driver that Robinson was not an officer, authorities said.
Robinson was wearing a black shirt with the word “sheriff” on it and a “duty belt,” and he had an empty holster, the sheriff said. He also wore a state Department of Correction badge from his job at the Cummins Unit, Gober said.
“He wasn’t covering it up,” the sheriff said. “He was obviously trying to get the guy to believe he was a cop.”
Gober added that, from a distance, the 21-year-old would have looked like a police officer or sheriff’s deputy. Robinson also had a shirt in his car that had the word “police” on it, the sheriff said.
Robinson was arrested on charges of first-degree criminal impersonation and false imprisonment.
Gober said Robinson admitted to pulling over two other people: a friend and an acquaintance. He was “almost like a prankster,” the sheriff noted. His charges are only related to the Sept. 10 incident, Gober said.
A call to the department about Robinson’s employment status with the agency was not immediately returned.
