Mahanoy City police say man impersonated cop, tried to pull them over

MAHANOY CITY, Pa. -- A man has been charged in Pennsylvania with impersonating a New Jersey sheriff after he tried to pull over a real cop.

Alexis Colon was wearing nothing but underwear when he was taken to a magistrate's office in Schuylkill after the stolen sheriff's uniform he was wearing was removed for evidence.

Mahanoy City police officer T. J. Rentschler said Colon flagged him down in his car, honking his horn and flashing his lights, late Monday night. When police got back to the station, they realized he was impersonating a cop."

"Mr. Colon got out of his vehicle, and identified himself as a sheriff from New Jersey," said Rentschler. "He said he was robbed, and he wanted to make a report to law enforcement."

But instead of police credentials, Mahanoy City cops found a lengthy criminal record and found fake identification, a BB gun, real bullets and drug paraphernalia in Colon's car.

Colon was in Mahanoy City apparently since his girlfriend lives here.

"It's quite a disgrace to everybody who put the hard work into becoming a law enforcement officer and it's scary," said Rentschler.

Colon remains in jail in Schuylkill County, charged with impersonating an officer, tampering with evidence and public records, giving false ID to officers, and conspiracy.

The Passaic County Sheriff's Department has been notified and reported that a lot of its uniforms were stolen recently.