Kevin Johnson, 29, faces charges of criminal impersonation and reckless endangerment.LEWISBURG, Tenn. -
A Marshall County woman said an email from her mother about police impersonators in Mississippi made her cautious about stopping for what appeared to be an unmarked police car whose driver signaled for her to pull over.
"I just kept on driving and then all of a sudden he sped up, got right behind me and started shining the spotlight," the woman told Nashville's News 2.
The woman asked not to be identified. She was traveling on Highway 431 North near Belfast around 9:30 p.m. Sunday when the incident occurred.
"He was driving really erratic and that made me kind of nervous right away," she said. "Then, when that spotlight was shining, I thought a cop would never do that so I called 911."
When she called 911, the dispatcher told her not to pull over because the car was not a Marshall County sheriff's deputy.
"It scared me even worse," she said. "I was already scared because he was right on my rear bumper and he was shining that light and I could barely see."
She continued, "There were people passing. I was honking my horn and flashing my lights trying to tell them to help."
The woman said the man cut her off a number of times and at one point he got out of his car and demanded she pull over to the side of the highway.
The woman told dispatch, "He's right here at my window."
Dispatch asked her, "He's at your window?"
The woman responded, "Yes. He's telling me he's an officer of the law and that I need to pull over to the side of the road."
The dispatcher told her not to pull over and she eventually was able to get away from the man identified as Kevin Johnson.
The 29-year-old Petersburg man later pulled over another motorist, a man who was also driving on Highway 431.
According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Department, Johnson had the driver's identification and was searching the man's trunk.
Authorities say Johnson is a convicted felon with a lengthy arrest history. Marshall County showed 14 arrests for Johnson on a variety of charges including theft, burglary, assaulting on an officer, forgery and drug offenses.
Johnson tried to run from deputies. They Tased him as he ran.
According to the incident report, Johnson pulled out the Taser prongs and jumped over the side of Highway 431 down a 15-foot embankment.
Deputies found Johnson hiding after a short search. They Tased him three more times and pepper sprayed him before he finally surrendered.
He is now charged with two counts of criminal impersonation, reckless endangerment, evading arrest, resisting arrest and being a habitual motor offender.
After learning of Johnson's arrest and criminal background, the woman was even more relieved she did not pull over.
"It makes me wonder what was he up to, why was he chasing me in the first place and why did he pick me?" she asked. "It scares me because I don't know what he would have done if I had pulled over. I'm a small lady."
The woman told Nashville's News 2 she's seen recent news reports about fake police officers and her mother also sent her an email about the search for a killer in northern Mississippi.
Authorities think the man posed as a police officer and pulled people over. Two drivers were shot and killed in two separate stops.
"The email said you have a right to pull to a brightly lit spot, where people are around, or you can call 911," she said.
The other motorist deputies say Johnson stopped was not injured.
Johnson is set to appear in a Marshall County Court June 19.
He is being held in the Marshall County jail in lieu of $30,000 bond.
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