SARASOTA, Fla. — A fake traffic stop streamed live on social media showed two women trying to pass as police officers, Sarasota police said.
Someone called the police just before 1 a.m. Sunday from the area of 31st and 32nd streets, saying they heard what was believed to be an officer in distress, according to the Sarasota Police Department.
Upon arrival, officers didn't find anything suspicious. But it wasn't long before they came across a car trying to stop another near Cocoanut Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
According to police, the car had red and blue lights in its windshield and a siren. Jymieka McDowell, a 28-year-old Sarasota woman, reportedly was behind the wheel with 39-year-old Ryshawnna Poole, a Manatee County woman, as a passenger.
The fake stop was recorded on video and broadcast live, police said. McDowell and Poole allegedly claimed to be officers and threatened the driver and passengers of the other car.
"Driver, exit the vehicle," someone said, according to police. "Black lives don't ******* matter -- anybody move and I will shoot."
The people inside the stopped car didn't know who was stopping them, police said.
"This wasn’t Sarasota Police officers pulling over a car," Chief Bernadette DiPino said in a statement. "These were people who were pretending to be law enforcement officers and putting fear into innocent victims and residents of our community.
"If you ever suspect if someone is pulling you over that you feel isn’t a law enforcement officer, call 911 to validate the traffic stop."
McDowell and Poole were arrested on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer and false imprisonment, in addition to other unrelated charges, police said.
Anyone with information about the case or who feel as though they, too, might have been stopped by the women is asked to call 941-263-6070.
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