Police Impersonator caught after flashing lights, siren at NYPD captain on way to work

Impatience at a Brooklyn stoplight resulted in the arrest of a police impersonator last Friday morning.  The impersonator was discovered when he employed his replica siren and flashing lights against an actual police officer.

Aiding in the imposter’s downfall was the fact that the person he pulled behind was no ordinary officer of the law. William G. Taylor is a veteran police captain with 23 years on the force. In fact, Captain Taylor is the commanding officer of the 62nd Precinct, located only five blocks away from where the incident occurred.

According to the New York Times, Capt. Taylor was at a red light in Bath Beach, Brooklyn last Friday morning when he heard what he thought was the short blast from a police siren, chastising him for still sitting there when the light had already turned green.

Before he could pull forward, the vehicle behind him, a GMC Acadia sport utility vehicle, flashed police lights at him.

“I guess I wasn’t going fast enough for him. They started flashing and he gives me the assignment again,” said Capt. Taylor.

Two things caught the captain’s attention. First, as the commander, he is familiar with every unmarked police vehicle in the precinct, but he did not recognize the Acadia. Second, the lights on the other vehicle were mounted police-style, but they were obviously not issued by the department.

Because Capt. Taylor was on his way to work and driving his own personal vehicle, department policy did not allow him to stop the other vehicle, so instead, he used his police radio to call in on-duty officers.

“I put over the air that I needed some assistance,” he said, and in short order, four police cars surrounded the Acadia. Capt. Taylor got out of his vehicle and made a positive identification of the suspect.

Members of the impersonation unit came down, searched the vehicle, and questioned the suspect, identified as Christopher Agoglia, a 41-year-old resident of Bath Beach. They found the flashing lights that Capt. Taylor had seen, a police scanner, and a jacket emblazoned with NYPD on the back.

Agoglia admitted that he was able to mimic a real police siren through the use of an app installed on his phone that was wirelessly connected to his vehicle’s speakers.

Agoglia could not explain the presence of the equipment, although he did confess that the jacket belonged to his mother-in-law, a retired crossing guard. He was charged with impersonating a police officer and operating a vehicle with excessive tint, and faces up to a year in jail if convicted.

As reported by the Bensonhurst Bean, Capt. Taylor later tweeted, “This man made a huge mistake while driving through the 62 pct using his lights and sirens and tried to go around none other than ME in traffic.”