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A man claiming to be a police officer demanded that a stranger on North Vancouver’s Spirit Trail stop a cyclist in her tracks this summer – resulting in a serious injury.
Now the real police are hoping the public can shed some light on the incident with the fake cop.
Police said on the afternoon of July 10, an older woman was cycling on the Spirit Trail in North Vancouver when a man apparently became upset that she had ridden too close to him. That man then shouted to people nearby that he was a police officer and told them to stop the cyclist.
When someone did, the woman fell off the bike and broke her arm.
Several people in the area witnessed the incident and later spoke to the fake cop, said Const. Mansoor Sahak of the North Vancouver RCMP. The supposed officer then left the area with his family.
The woman was taken care of by a friend.
But Sahak said the man who demanded the cyclist be stopped is not a police officer.
“Obviously we don’t want anybody pretending to be a police officer,” said Sahak – particularly when that person’s actions resulted in injury.
The man was not in uniform at the time.
Sahak said police aren’t blaming the person who stopped the cyclist – who thought he was obeying an officer’s order.
If in doubt, however, it’s reasonable to ask anyone claiming to be a police officer to show ID, he added.
Sahak said police don’t believe the incident on the Spirit Trail is connected to other incidents in the Lower Mainland involving people impersonating cops.
But he added, “We are aware that there were multiple people who witnessed the incident and interacted with the man who claimed to be a police officer.” Police would like to speak with those witnesses to the fake cop, as well as the man who stopped the cyclist.
Anyone with information should contact the North Vancouver Serious Crime Unit at 604-969-7506 or by email at [email protected].
