Teen says 'fake cop' followed her home from school

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County high school senior said she was followed all the way home by a suspected police impersonator shortly after she drove off campus Wednesday.

Sydney Purnell said she could see the man in her rearview mirror.

"I'm thinking this is someone playing a prank on me. Then I realize, he's following me," Purnell said.

Purnell and her sister had just left Mill Creek High School Wednesday when she noticed a tan pickup truck tailing them. The student told Channel 2 there was a flashing blue light on the dash. She said the driver was even honking the horn.

The victim said the man went up to her car, knocked on the glass, and ordered her to get out.

"He comes up and knocks on my window saying, 'I need you to get out of the car.'" Purnell said. "I can see he has a knife on him, and he's reaching toward the back like a cop would, acting like he has a gun."

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Purnell figured something scared the man away because he went back to his truck and drove off moments later. Her mother called police, and spread the word on social media.

"Because you never know. We obviously didn't think this would happen to us, but it happened in our driveway," Robin Purnell said.

Sydney Purnell said the actual cops told her the right move is too keep driving and call 911.

What happened frightened fellow students at Purnell's school.

"Because people don't know. What if it happens again. If that guy followed me, I'd probably do the same thing as those girls because I don't know any better," high school senior Kelly H. said.

Purnell said in the moment, it seemed like there was no way out.

"I tell my sister as we're sitting there in the car, 'If he pulls a gun on us, I have nowhere to go,'" Purnell said. "That's when I try to think through it in my head. What am I going to do if he pulls a gun?"

No arrests have been made following the incident.

Cox Media Group