Ocoee man stands accused of impersonating officer
An Ocoee man who told officers he was trying to help them track down a suspect wound up in jail after crashing into a police cruiser early Friday, according to the Orlando Police Department.
Albert Michael Dolan, 53, was arrested after officers conducting a separate traffic stop noticed his black Dodge Charger on John Young Parkway with flashing red and blue lights. Dolan’s car pulled off to the side of the road near the stop, an officer wrote in an arrest report. “At the time, I believed the vehicle to be a law enforcement vehicle that was having equipment issues,” the officer wrote.
While approaching Dolan, authorities noticed the smell of alcohol coming from his car and a pilsner glass filled with a pink liquid. He told officers that he saw they had somebody detained on the side of the road and wanted to make sure the officers were OK.
“He also told [an officer] that there was an unknown black male in the area breaking women’s backs and that he was trying to locate him to help us out,” police wrote in court documents.
Dolan may have been referring to an attack that left a 92-year-old woman seriously injured at her home in west Orange County last week. Authorities are still searching for the suspect.
During the stop, authorities say he tried to flee — driving the wrong way down John Young Parkway. To avert a head-on crash, an officer stopped in front of Dolan’s car, which collided with the police cruiser, police said.
Officers tried using Tasers to subdue Dolan, but they had no effect, the report said. He was eventually restrained and booked into the Orange County Jail on several charges, including impersonating a police officer.
His arrest marks the second time in less than a week Orlando police arrested a man suspected of impersonating an officer. Last Saturday, William Dazza-Parra, 38, was arrested after officers noticed him pulling over another car.