WESTERVILLE, Ohio — A man was arrested for allegedly impersonating a police officer during a traffic stop, the Westerville Division of Police said.
Investigators said 42-year-old Brendan Conklin conducted an unlawful traffic stop near South Cleveland Avenue in a modified SUV that used lights and sirens.
The vehicle was also equipped with a mobile display terminal, radio, dash cam, partition and a mounted shotgun.
“This person’s vehicle that they were driving looked just like a police cruiser. It had a light bar on the top, a push bar on the front, the inside looked just like a police car. The only difference was this was an all black vehicle and didn’t have any markings that said police anywhere on the vehicle so there absolutely is a danger if someone were to believe this is a real police officer,” said Lt. Justin Alloway of the Westerville Police Department.
Police said during the stop, Conklin showed a badge after flagging down a Columbus police officer. Conklin allegedly said he was “off-duty” after interacting with officers from Westerville and Columbus.
Body camera video showed the confusion at the scene.
One officer asked, “Is this guy real?” as detectives became suspicious and began looking into Conklin’s identification and vehicle.
Investigators found that Conklin’s vehicle was registered to a nonprofit organization in his name, the Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Program (OFAP), with its location listed as the Columbus Division of Police Headquarters.
Conklin became a licensed bail agent through the Ohio Department of Insurance in June.
“It is important to realize in this situation this was not a bondsman situation this was a person overstepping their bounds using red lights and blue lights to stop a vehicle that they are not lawfully allowed to do ,” Lt. Alloway said.
Conklin is also listed as a member of the Ohio Bail Agents Association. Woody Fox, a long time bail agent and vice president of the organization said Conklin would not have authority to make a traffic stop like this.
“First of all we don’t have lights and sirens on our vehicles, only police can do that. We don’t have that and we don’t stop people for traffic violations,” Fox said. “The only thing we are allowed to do under the law is if a person jumps bond, they miss court and we have them out on bond, we are allowed to apprehend that person and bring them back to court. We are not police officers.”
Conklin was arrested on Jan. 21 and charged with impersonating a police officer and unlawful restraint. Police said additional charges are pending and he is currently out on bail.
Police said acting as a police officer is dangerous and they believe Conklin has made illegal stops in the past.
"When someone acts like a police officer it degrades the trust that people have in police officers. We are not gonna go out and stop someone for no reason like this appeared to be in this situation. I don’t know what his endgame was in this situation or why he was stopping someone for no legitimate reason,” said Lt. Alloway.
Detectives are asking anyone who believes they may have been stopped by Conklin to contact Westerville police at 614-901-6866 or call the non-emergency line at 614-882-7444.
Lt. Alloway said if you are not sure if an officer pulling you over is legitimate, you can put your turn signal or flashers on, slow down and call 911 to confirm.