Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.
Fake cops in Colorado led a woman into a roadblock and questioned why she was violating the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home mandate, police said.
Two people told police in Greeley that they had been pulled over or waved through a makeshift roadblock during separate incidents Friday and Tuesday while being questioned for “violating” a statewide stay-at-home order that began Thursday and runs through mid-April.
“Reports have all described unmarked type vehicles with dashboard mounted red & blue lights; black uniforms with no markings or badge & duty belts with little equipment,” department officials announced late Saturday.
But no cops in Greeley conducted the reported traffic stops – and their counterparts from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado State Patrol also didn’t set them up, police said.
“The case is currently under investigation,” police spokeswoman Rebecca Ries told The Post, adding that the motive of the suspects is currently unclear. “Hopefully we will solve this case and I can provide you with those answers.”
No injuries were reported during the incidents, Ries said.
One of the people caught in the roadblock, meanwhile, told cops she was stopped near 10th Street and Promontory Circle in Greeley at about 4:50 a.m. Friday – when a man in a dark uniform and a gas mask led her to an area cordoned off by traffic cones with up to four cars parked nearby, the Denver Post reports.
Some of the silver cars had red and blue lights flashing on their dashboards and at least one vehicle had a spotlight, Cmdr. Rafael Gutierrez told the newspaper.
The woman told cops several people at the roadblock were wearing yellow traffic vests, including one man with a baton and pepper spray who asked why she was driving at the time, Gutierrez said.
“The male demanded to see a driver’s license, insurance and registration and he further demanded an explanation as to why the victims was violating the COVID-19 law,” police said in a news release.
The man then showed the woman what she thought was a ticket, but she never received any citation. She was ultimately allowed to leave after 10 minutes and told cops she was the first of up to seven cars ensnared in the roadblock, Gutierrez said.
“We are actively pursuing an investigation on this and hopefully we can figure out who they are and get an explanation for their actions, and if they are doing it for criminal reasons then we can pursue the appropriate charges against them,” Gutierrez told the Denver Post.
