Police warn of man claiming to be an officer

Texarkana, Texas, police want to warn the public of a man impersonating a police officer.

On Friday night, a woman noticed a car following her as she left the Central Mall parking lot and she became concerned, said Shawn Vaughn, spokesman for Texarkana, Texas, Police Department. When the woman decided to pull into the Holiday Inn Express driveway, the vehicle pulled up behind her and a man got out and came up to her door.

He allegedly told her he was “undercover Officer Mantaho” and needed to see her identification.

She was immediately suspicious and refused to do more than crack her window a little bit to talk to him.

She demanded that he show her some identification to prove that he was a police officer. He continued to try to convince her to roll down her window and even tried to open the door himself.

The woman refused and had already locked all the doors. After a few minutes, he got back into his car and sped away.

“This is a scary situation. We don’t know what his intentions were, but he is obviously not a police officer,” Vaughn said.

Police say anyone in a situation like this or one where an unmarked vehicle is trying to get them to stop should immediately call 911 and report it. If a police officer is trying to stop someone, the dispatcher can verify it and let that person know that it is safe to pull over.

If it turns out that it is not a police officer, the dispatcher will give instructions and immediately send an officer to find out what’s going on, Vaughn said.