Driver tells 911 a fake cop pulled him over. It was an armed retiree, Florida cops say
A driver’s suspicions of being pulled over by a fake cop proved accurate when responding deputies discovered he was being questioned by a gun-totting retiree, Florida investigators say.
They arrived after the driver called 911 on Monday, Nov. 4, to report he had been stopped by “a possible police impersonator” on US 98 in the Mary Esther community. Mary Esther is in the Panhandle, about a 30-mile drive east from Pensacola.
“Deputies found the citizen had been pulled over by 69-year old Salvatore Gruny of Shalimar,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a Nov. 7 news release.
“Gruny was in his personal Dodge Charger with flashing blue lights in the front windshield and red, blue, and white lights in the back window. ... The victim says Gruny had told him he was being stopped for reckless driving.”
The driver became suspicious when he asked Gruny “if he was a cop” and was shown an Office of Naval Intelligence badge, officials said. Gruny was also displaying a loaded 9mm on his right hip, officials said.
He showed the same badge to deputies, but they discovered Gruny was retired, officials said.
Gruny’s charges include impersonating a federal officer, use of a firearm during a felony, unlawful use of blue lights and unlawful use of a badge, officials said.
The Office of Naval Investigators reports Gruny had “been warned for similar behavior in the past,” the sheriff’s office said.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden noted the driver was wise to question being pulled over by someone in plain clothes, driving an unmarked car.
“We have unmarked cars and people in plain clothes but typically they’re not pulling cars over. If you get pulled over with an unmarked car with us, it’s still going to be someone typically in uniform,” Aden said in the release.
“Most of the time people that are going to pull you over in this county, they’re going to have one of the green and white patrol cars with the big blue lights on them and it’s pretty obvious to spot us.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 8:27 AM with the headline "Driver tells 911 a fake cop pulled him over. It was an armed retiree, Florida cops say."