Trucker-cop impersonator jailed on drug charges

The Trucker News Services

5/15/2008

ARLINGTON, Wash. — A truck driver who authorities said allegedly has impersonated police for more than 10 years has been arrested on suspicion of stealing prescription drugs while wearing a Washington State Patrol uniform, Arlington police said Wednesday.

The man, 51, of Wallace, Idaho, went into an Arlington Rite Aid on Oct. 29 to pick up an Oxycontin prescription, Arlington police Chief John Gray said. He allegedly was wearing a Washington State Patrol coat and was accompanied by a German shepherd dog wearing a state patrol harness.

When the man went to pay for the drugs, his debit card was declined. He told pharmacists he had cash in his vehicle and would be right back. He allegedly took the drugs and left, Gray said.

Police wouldn’t say how the man got the state patrol uniform.

The man, a long-haul truck driver, allegedly met with doctors in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Kentucky wearing the state patrol uniform and asking for Oxycotin prescriptions, Gray said.

He was arrested on May 6 after being charged with second-degree theft and criminal impersonation, Gray said.

Police in Washington and Idaho have been investigating the man since 1997 for reportedly impersonating police.