Fake Cops

...From the Canadian Press...

Two teenage girls are accused of posing as police officers in a carjacking outside a Winnipeg cultural centre over the weekend.

The victim, a 46-year-old man, was sitting in a pickup truck in the parking lot at the Ukrainian National Home early Sunday when the teens convinced him to get out of the vehicle by claiming they were cops.

The pair then allegedly managed to bind the man's hands, and raided his pockets before taking off in the truck, police said.

Eventually, the man broke free and called police. Less than two hours later, officers found his stolen pickup and one of the suspects in the same neighbourhood.

Calling it an unusual but "quite brazen" incident, Winnipeg police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput said police aren't sure why the man listened to the teens.

"I don't know what the circumstances were and why he felt compelled to do it. Probably because they did state they were police officers," she said.

The alleged driver of the stolen truck, a 16-year-old girl, was charged with robbery, forcible confinement, impersonating a police officer, driving without a licence, and drug possession. She's being held at the Manitoba Youth Centre.

The other teen, who is 15, was released on a promise to appear in court. Police said they have charged her with robbery and driving without a licence.

Surely this must have been a traumatizing event for the 46-year-old man, but there’s still something confusing about the whole scenario.
Mistaking someone’s identity is very normal. Once I confused a guy wearing a white collared shirt with no tie for being a waiter. If he would have asked me for my order, I would have given it to him.
But how a grown man can be convinced a 15 year old girl is a cop is beyond me.



Now I wasn’t there, but I have been to Winnipeg. And I can say for sure that people in Winnipeg don’t regularly walk around in police costumes, unless of course it’s Halloween.
So one can only assume the girls weren’t dressed like cops.
Also, I noticed both girls were charged with driving without a licence. Did they rotate drivers? Usually, just one person drives the getaway car.
Anyway, let this be a lesson: next time a cop asks you to get out of your car, ask the cop to name 4 of 5 Spice Girls. If the cop can do it in under 7 seconds, you have a teenage girl on your hands, not a cop. Anything over 7 seconds, well...your guess is as good as mine.