Bogus cop might be car thief

A suspected car thief was arrested on Wednesday in Sophiatown by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) for posing as a cop in a sleek dark blue BMW 535i.

The 30-year-old suspect was apprehended on the main road of Sophiatown when officials spotted a car with blue police lights. Subsequently it could not be revealed what police station the car was from.

“The car was stopped because it looked a bit suspicious, and upon [being] stopped, he [the suspect] produced a letter that looked like it was from a police station,” says Chief Superintendent and JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar.

Minnaar said that upon further investigation the letter produced by the man was found to be fake. He was arrested.

Also in his possession the police found foreign currency which could not be accounted for.

The man, whose name was not revealed because of pending investigations, will be appearing in court soon to face charges of defeating the ends of justice, impersonating a police officer and money laundering.

The court date is yet unconfirmed.

The incident caught the attention of Michael Sun, councillor and MMC for the Public Safety Johannesburg, who then tweeted about it. The MMC said he found the story significant enough to warrant tweeting about.