HOUSTON – Two men are in jail after being accused of impersonating police officers and trying to stop motorists on the north side of Houston.
The car they pulled over was occupied by two undercover Houston police officers.
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The two suspects in the case know something about how police officers work.
Travion Crawford, 19, is awaiting trial for armed robbery and Reginald Edwards, 26, is on parole after doing time for assault and drug possession, according to police.
The two men were allegedly cruising north Houston on Tuesday in Edwards’ car, which was equipped with red and blue emergency lights on the dash, like those used in real police cars.
The two men were allegedly using the lights just as real police officers would.
“I think they woke up and didn’t decide to have a bad day but had one anyway,” said Detective Michael Ybanez, with the Houston Police Department's Major Offenders Division.
Investigators said Crawford and Edwards tried to pull over a car in the 600 block of West Little York Road. The car was occupied by two plainclothes Houston narcotics officers who were working in the neighborhood.
“These two individuals used hand signals along with blue and red lights mounted on the dashboard in (an) effort to get our officers to pull over in a traffic stop,” Ybanez said.
The two officers phoned for backup and then pulled into a service station at Parker Road and I-45.
Crawford and Edwards were still behind them.
When Edwards got out of his car and began walking toward the undercover officers, investigators said, the officers assumed it was a robbery attempt. They pulled their guns and arrested both men.
Crawford and Edwards are in jail. Both are charged with felony charges of impersonating a police officer.