Warning! Man posing as a deputy, making ‘coronavirus traffic stops’ in metro Atlanta county

JACKSON COUNTY, Ga. — Investigators are trying to find a man who is pretending to be a deputy and making “coronavirus traffic stops."

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says the man is driving around Jackson County in a car with a blue light.

He's driving a grey colored Crown Victoria, that may be an old patrol car. Earlier this week, he flipped on a blue dash mounted-mounted light and pulled over a truck driver on Hwy. 129 near Jefferson.

The truck driver described to authorities what the man was wearing as he approached the truck.

“Had a duty belt on. Didn't see a gun, but he had what was described as a night stick,” Maj. Steve Smith said in recounting what the truck driver told authorities. “I don't know if he said he was enforcing a curfew. He said, 'You're a nonessential, you need to get off the road.'”

The truck driver had every right to be out on the road.

[MORE: Special section on the latest on coronavirus in Georgia]

“Basically, it was a very short encounter. He just got his message across and left,” Smith said.

There have been reports of similar coronavirus traffic stops by phony cops elsewhere in the metro Atlanta area, in Hall and Dawson counties.

“Not only is it dangerous for the public, it's also dangerous for the man who is doing that, because he doesn't know who he is stopping," Smith said.

Investigators said the man is white, and between 50 and 60 years old.

They say anyone who has had a similar encounter, should call police.

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