“Wait, so he snitched on himself?”
According to Arizona troopers, yes.
A man driving a Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD used red and blue emergency-style lights to pull over a Tesla on Interstate 17 in Phoenix Thursday morning, then called the Arizona Department of Public Safety and reported the stop himself.
At about 8:29 a.m. Sept. 17, troopers responded to I-17 southbound near Dove Valley Road, around mileposts 221 to 223. The Tesla was occupied by an adult male driver and an adult female passenger.
There May Be More Stops
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Troopers arrived and spoke with all three people. The caller had no law-enforcement authority and was arrested at the scene on charges of impersonating a police officer.
The truck is a Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD. The side badging identifies the model, while the grille, headlights, and bodywork match Chevrolet’s 2015-2019 Silverado HD generation.
AZDPS described it as silver or gray, although several photographs give the metallic paint a blue-charcoal cast. Chevrolet offered several dark metallic finishes on the 2500HD during those years, including Tungsten Metallic, Graphite Metallic and Deep Ocean Blue Metallic.
The red and blue lights were mounted above or behind the dashboard and visible through the windshield.
The driver was wearing a red polo shirt, dark jeans, and a ball cap.
AZDPS is asking anyone who may have been stopped by the same man or vehicle to come forward, but the department did not release his name and blurred his face in the published photographs.
That left some readers wondering how much they were supposed to recognize beyond the Silverado itself.
“Nah, wait why is he face blurred out?”
Another reader wrote, “I don’t understand why they blur the faces.”
The department said the same person, or someone using a similarly equipped vehicle, may have stopped other motorists.
Anyone with information can call 1-877-4AZ-TIPS or submit a tip through Arizona’s tip-reporting system.
If the Lights Do Not Look Right
One reader put the practical concern this way:
“So say if I was being pulled over by a unmarked vehicle like this one do I really have the right not to pull over and actually call to see if this is legit? Or will i go to jail for felony flight??.. asking because this is scary as hell specially being a female and driving solo at night time!!???”
Drivers should acknowledge the stop rather than simply continue on.
If the location feels wrong or the vehicle does not look legitimate, turn on the hazard lights, reduce speed, and head for a well-lit, populated location such as a gas station, fire station, police station, or open business.
Call 911 while doing so, give dispatchers your location and ask whether a legitimate law-enforcement unit is trying to stop you.
Once stopped, keep the doors locked and lower the window only partially until the person’s identity can be confirmed through a marked vehicle, uniform, badge or other credentials.
AZDPS stressed that those precautions concern how a driver stops, not whether the driver stops. Continuing away from a genuine law-enforcement vehicle can be a separate offense.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.