© 2026 WGCU News
News for all of Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fla. Man Impersonating Officer Pulls Over Unmarked Sheriff's Car

Not the wisest of moves: A man impersonating a police officer in Florida signals a real sheriff's detective driving an unmarked car to pull over.

WESH in Orlando reports that the suspect, 20-year-old Matthew Lee McMahon, "activated a red and blue light Monday while driving behind an unmarked county sheriff's car."

"I pulled over to confront the individual. At which point, he pulled up next to me. Kind of gave me the 'slow down' look and pointed this finger at me," sheriff's detective Chance Anderson told First Coast News about the incident in St. Augustine.

"I was shocked to, No. 1, see somebody affecting a traffic stop on me," Anderson said. "We are a rather large department, but I still know a majority of our law enforcement officers."

Ironically, Chance's work on the force includes catching people impersonating law enforcement officers, he told FCN, adding that in a decade on the job, no one pretending to be law enforcement had ever had the bad judgment to pull him over.

The Associated Press says McMahon is charged with impersonating an officer and unlawfully displaying blue lights. He's been released on $5,500 bail.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a correspondent for NPR's General Assignment Desk.
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU