A man was arrested Tuesday after posing as a police officer in order to pull over and rob a driver in New Jersey, Brick Township Police said.
Police said the suspect, 40-year-old Michael Vence, pulled alongside a vehicle stopped at a traffic light on Cedarbridge Avenue and displayed what appeared to be a law enforcement badge. He allegedly stated that he was a police officer and ordered the driver to pull over.
Believing that Vence was a police officer, the driver complied, police said. Vence allegedly ordered the driver out of the vehicle, removed a quantity of cash from the driver's clothing and told him to return to his vehicle. Police said he then fled the area in an unknown direction.
Vence allegedly took approximately $5,000 in cash from the driver. He was arrested Tuesday on charges of impersonating a police officer and theft and was released on $20,000 bail.
Upon further investigation, Detective Daniel Waleski of the Brick Township Police Detective Bureau discovered that Vence was possibly operating an unlicensed taxi service that catered to patrons of the Mansion Nightclub on Chambersbridge Road.
The investigation is ongoing.