ST. LOUIS — A man pretending to be a police officer tried to pull over the wrong car, according to court documents filed in St. Louis Monday.
Jonathan Schoenakase, 49, was charged with false impersonation of a law enforcement officer for an incident that happened Friday night in Midtown.
According to a probable cause statement, a St. Louis police sergeant was on a routine patrol in an undercover cruiser when he went to help other detectives who were following a suspected stolen vehicle. While on his way to help those officers, he said a traffic stop was initiated on him.
The police sergeant said the driver — later identified as Schoenakase —activated a flashing red and blue strobe light. So, the officer slowed down and pulled over. As he did that, he said Schoenakase turned off the flashing lights and sped past him.
That’s when the police sergeant turned on his flashing emergency lights and siren and pulled over Schoenakase.
The officer said Schoenakase told him this was the first time he tried to perform a traffic stop. The man was arrested and charged.
Besides the lookalike flashing lights, the officer said Schoenakase had the word “OFFICER” with a blue line through it on his front license plate. His back plate read “OFC JON1”.
Schoenakase’s bond was set at $3,000, cash only.
