WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – An Ocoee man is accused of posing as a police officer as he drove drunk with red-and-blue lights displayed on his Dodge Charger Tuesday night, according to the Winter Garden Police Department.
Winter Garden police officer Cody Hudson was on routine patrol on Stoney Brook West Parkway around 7:45 p.m. when he noticed red and blue lights from behind quickly approaching his vehicle.
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Other vehicles pulled over to yield to the approaching vehicle and Hudson did as well, thinking the vehicle was a fellow law enforcement officer, the report said.
As the vehicle passed, Hudson noticed it had a decorative plate. He followed the Dodge Charger as it went 66 mph in a 35 mph zone, forcing other vehicles to yield in a busy intersection, according to the affidavit. The vehicle's license plate was not registered to any law enforcement agency.
Hudson wrote in his report that he saw the driver, identified as Albert Dolan, throw something out of the vehicle's window as it was turning west on Tilden Road.
Hudson pulled over Dolan's vehicle and Dolan got out and approached the officer's vehicle claiming that he was cop and that Hudson should follow him, the report said.
Dolan claimed that he worked for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency, according to the affidavit.
Police said Dolan called the officer "brother" multiple times and repeatedly insisted that he was a fellow officer.
Backup arrived at the scene and confirmed that Dolan did not work for FDLE or any other law enforcement agency.
Hudson said he smelled alcohol on Dolan as he approached him and he had difficulty following instructions and standing upright.
Dolan said he "has qualified multiple times at high level events such as Ironman events" and that he had no medical ailments that would prevent him from taking part in field sobriety exercises, Hudson wrote in the report.
Police said Dolan, 53, was unable to maintain balance and follow instructions during the exercises, after which he was handcuffed and arrested.
When authorities searched Dolan's vehicle, they said they found lights similar to the ones used in police cars affixed to his windshield and a pink drink spilled on the inside of the window, which was broken as if something had been thrown at it.
A glass cup with a pink drink inside was found in the area where Dolan threw an object out of his window, the report said.
Dolan refused to submit to a breath sample for alcohol, police said.
He was charged with impersonating an officer and prohibited use of certain lights.