Dash cam video of creepy fake road block in New Jersey

JERSEY CITY (WABC) -- State Police believe a suspicious roadblock on the New Jersey Turnpike captured by a dashboard camera was a lapse in judgment and not a robbery attempt.

Early Monday morning, a man pulled up to an apparent roadblock on a New Jersey highway. He captured on his dashcam a stranger emerging from the shadows. Ivan Tukhtin, who was alone in his car on the Turnpike's Newark Bay Extension, said the creepy encounter unfolded in an instant.

Two cones blocked his path as the mysterious man, hidden in the shadows by a car in the shoulder, sauntered towards him.

WATCH THE EXTENDED VERSION OF THE DASH CAM VIDEO

"The first thing that pops into my mind was, why don't I see any hazards on the car, then I see the person, maybe he's in trouble, maybe he needs help," Tukhtin said.

"Can I help you with something?" Tukhtin asked in the video.

"Yes," the man said in the video.

The third-year law student said the man put his hands in his pockets and didn't say anything else. Tukhtin left, but later pulled over and called 911.

"There's a car parked on the side of the road with two cones in the middle of the street trying to pull people over," Tukhtin said in the 911 call.

State Police Capt. Stephen Jones said the cones were gone by the time troopers responded to reports of suspicious persons. But they found two men there and learned the car had run out of gas. Troopers believe the two may have tried an inappropriate and dangerous way to get help using the cones.

Kareem Walston, 37, from Orange, N.J., was arrested for DWI, and 36-year-old Hashen Clark from Jersey City was arrested for hindering. Detectives are continuing to investigate the incident.

"You read about the stuff on the internet, people impersonating police, could have been a hijacking, could have been a robbery," Tukhtin said later.

He wasn't the only person who called. Tukhtin said he is glad he got out of there when he did.