Des Plaines man charged in fake cop investigation

A 20-year-old Des Plaines man was charged with disorderly conduct Tuesday in Arlington Heights in connection with incidents Sunday where drivers thought someone was impersonating a police officer.

Joseph McKenzie, of the 1500 block of East Thacker, was released on bond, police said. A juvenile was also expected to be charged.

Commander Kenneth Galinski of the investigations division in the Arlington Heights Police Department gave this account:

After the first report that someone in an SUV stopped a car and impersonated a police officer, an Arlington Heights officer saw a group of people and a vehicle that fit the description at a gas station at Palatine and Arlington Heights roads.

However, the officer left before confronting the subjects because he heard a report of the second incident and responded to that, thinking it was a crime in progress.

Investigators later obtained the gas station's video, and officers looking at it recognized McKenzie. When officers questioned the young man, they found a flashlight with a blue lens that he apparently used to try to stop cars.

The driver who asked the man who stopped her for identification could not say for sure that he had claimed to be a police officer. And the second driver drove off without talking to anyone in the SUV, Galinski said in explaining why McKenzie wasn't charged with impersonating a police officer.

The juvenile is accused of throwing a bottle at that victim's vehicle, but it didn't do any damage. He will be charged with disorderly conduct too, Galinski said.

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<li><a href="/story/?id=394999">Fake police attempt to pull over motorists in Arlington Heights <span class="date">[07/19/10]</span></a></li>

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