POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A 21-year-old Winter Haven resident was arrested on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer after a driver flagged down a police officer and said a shaggy-haired man was pulling people over in Lake Wales.

Around 2 p.m. on March 26, a Lake Wales Police Department officer was flagged down by a citizen who said he saw a red Mitsubishi GT 3000 with a Georgia license plate trying to pull vehicles over in the area.

The car had red and blue lights on the dashboard and emitted dark smoke when the driver let off the gas. The citizen told the police officer that a man with long, shaggy hair was driving the car, which he last saw on Rifle Range Road.

Then, at 2:15 p.m., an off-duty Lake Wales police officer saw the same vehicle traveling east on Highway 60, with red and blue lights flashing on the dashboard. The driver of the red Mitsubishi tried to conduct traffic stops on three vehicles. The three vehicles pulled over to the side of the road and the red Mitsubishi pulled up next to them. The Mitsubishi’s driver made hand gestures at the cars that he pulled over, and then drove away.

The off-duty officer contacted on-duty Lake Wales police officers, who responded to the scene.

The responding officers saw the red Mitsubishi conducting a traffic stop at Highway 60 and Central Avenue.

A police officer approached Eduardo Rodriguez, age 21, and asked why he was conducting traffic stops on vehicles. Rodriguez replied that he was “just trying to make some money,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Rodriguez told the police officer that he owned the Mitsubishi and the Georgia license plate on his car belonged to a friend.

The officer said he found a red and blue light bar on the Mitsubishi’s windshield. An Amazon shipping box for the light was inside the car. The mailing label on the box was addressed to Rodriguez.

The officer arrested Rodriguez on two counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON RIGHT NOW: 

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