Kristin McBride was driving alongside Freeway 6 between Lumby and Vernon on the night time of March 13 when a person in a white truck or SUV pulled up behind her and turned on a set of flashing purple and blue lights put in within the automobile’s grill. She pulled over to the facet of the street and the person acquired out of his automobile.
He informed her he was doing a sobriety verify and briefly shone a flashlight contained in the automotive earlier than returning to his automobile, McBride mentioned.
She described it as “the weirdest expertise I’ve ever had,” but it surely was solely after she learn an article a few related incident within the Boundary area that she was satisfied the person wasn’t an actual cop.
“At first I used to be fairly shaken. I informed my daughter, I do not suppose I will be driving out at night time anymore to choose you up,” McBride informed Sarah Penton, host of CBC’s Radio West, on Thursday.
She reported her expertise to the RCMP, who issued a warning to the general public and requested for different victims to return ahead. In addition they gave her recommendation about what to do if one thing related occurs once more.
“I mentioned, ‘I am actually nervous being a single lady in a automotive. I do not really feel very assured in pulling over if I used to be to be pulled over now,’ ” McBride mentioned.
Reached for touch upon Thursday, an RCMP spokesperson mentioned they might not touch upon specifics of the case. Mounties mentioned anybody who believes they’re being stopped by an illegitimate police automobile ought to pull over, lock their doorways and cellphone 911 to verify whether or not dispatchers have details about the officer.
Suspect pulled over a second automotive as effectively
McBride mentioned her encounter with the suspect felt unusual from the very starting.
It was about 9 p.m. and he or she was returning house to Lumby after selecting up her 17-year-old daughter, who had been visiting her boyfriend in Vernon.
McBride mentioned she seen a white automobile pulled over to the facet of the street — not absolutely on the shoulder, however protruding into the lane. She slowed down, turned off her excessive beams and drove round it.
That is when the opposite driver pulled in behind her and turned on his flashing lights.
“I used to be like, ‘Oh, pricey, I am getting pulled over. What did I do improper?’ ” McBride recalled.
After he informed her he was conducting a sobriety verify, she puzzled why he wasn’t asking extra questions. She additionally recalled that often when police are conducting roadside stops for impaired drivers, a number of automobiles and officers are concerned.
However after the person shone his flashlight into her automotive, he returned to his automobile with out saying something extra.
“I used to be like, I assume I am free to go. So I began driving on the freeway, and I seen he pulled up behind me and adopted me,” McBride mentioned.
He stayed behind her till they handed one other automotive stopped in a pullout space on the opposite facet of the street. She watched because the suspect rotated, drove into the pullout and turned on his flashing lights as soon as once more.
“It simply sat with me, actually uncomfortably,” McBride mentioned.
‘I am definitely nervous’
When she learn in regards to the incident additional south involving a similar-looking man in an analogous automobile pulling over a automotive on Freeway 33 close to Westbridge on March 21, “I used to be simply blown away,” McBride mentioned.
Since then, she’s realized how harmful her encounter might have been. She’s considered final yr’s mass capturing in Nova Scotia, the place the killer disguised himself as a Mountie, in addition to the numerous lacking and murdered Indigenous ladies alongside the Freeway of Tears, as Freeway 16 in northern B.C. is thought.
“I am definitely nervous,” McBride mentioned.
She mentioned that now when she drives the freeway at night time, she brings her canine together with her, simply to really feel safer.
RCMP have mentioned they do not know if the suspect in each instances is identical particular person, however they’re asking anybody with data to name police.
Investigators have described the suspect within the Lumby incident as common peak and weight with dirty-blond hair, carrying a white button-down shirt and black or blue khaki pants.
The suspect within the Westbridge case was described as an older man with blond unkempt hair, six toes to 6 toes two inches tall, clear shaven, carrying a white costume shirt and darkish colored informal pants.
Faucet the hyperlink under to listen to Kristin McBride’s interview on Radio West:
Radio West11:45North Okanagan lady chased by a police impersonator on the street close to Lumby
Kristin McBride speaks to Sarah Penton about her encounter with a police impersonator whereas driving alongside the freeway between Lumby and Vernon on March 13. 11:45
