East Lansing Police are hoping an alleged video recording will help the track down someone they say was impersonating a police officer.
A juvenile was walking near the Saginaw and Hagadorn intersection around 5:30 Monday evening when he was stopped and questioned by someone posing as a cop.
The suspect was even armed with a handgun.
"It's certainly disturbing and it is extremely concerning," said Lt. Steve Gonzalez from the East Lansing Police Department.
It was when the suspect realized he was allegedly being recorded on cell phone that he fled the scene.
It's that cell phone video police say is crucial in identifying the suspect. So far, nobody has come forward.
"We can't stress enough that they're not in any trouble," said Gonzalez. "We just simply want to learn any information we can from them and so we really want them to come forward and help us out with this investigation."
Spotting a phony officer starts with becoming familiar with your local police departments vehicles and uniforms.
"Police officers pride themselves on their uniform. its one of the pieces of identity that we hold important to us," said Gonzalez. "So an officer is going to take care of their uniform, it's going to be clean pressed and look professional."
Police say that impersonators are not common in the area although there have been a few cases in the past.
The suspect, a white male in his late 20's to mid 30's, was last seen in a white ford Taurus with lights and the word "Police" and "Lansing" on the side.
He's six foot tall with a small birth mark on his right cheek.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the East Lansing Police Department Detective Bureau at (517) 319-6884.
