NITRO, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Early Thursday morning, a driver was stopped in the Nitro area after flashing unauthorized emergency sirens at a police officer.
According to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, at around 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning, Deputy J. Cooper was returning from a transport to Putnam County on I64.
Just before reaching the Nitro exit, Deputy Cooper observed a dark-colored sedan traveling east ahead of him. As Cooper got closer to the vehicle, the driver flashed emergency blue and red lights at the officer.
Suspicious of the vehicle, Cooper followed as it took the Nitro exit. As he was still in the Putnam County area, Cooper coordinated a traffic stop of the sedan with the Nitro Police Department.
Upon conducting the traffic stop, authorities learned that the driver was not in fact an officer of the law and had not been in any way authorized to equip his vehicle with emergency lights or sirens.
The driver stated that the vehicle had recently been purchased from a police auction, but this conflicts with common knowledge among law enforcement that out-of-service police cruisers would not be sold at such an auction with emergency equipment still installed.
The vehicle was impounded by the Nitro Police and is being held until a determination is made by the prosecutor’s office regarding applicable charges pending the outcome of the investigation.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for Putnam County can be found here.