A man impersonating a police officer pulled a weapon on a teenager, chastising him for the way he was riding his bike, police said Friday.
The incident happened about 4 p.m. Sept. 5 as two teenage boys, both high school students, rode their bikes in a bike lane on Channing Avenue near Rhodes Drive.
They heard a voice on a public-address system in a car behind them ordering them to ride single file instead of side by side. When they looked back, they saw a car with no police markings, but assumed it was an unmarked police vehicle.
The teens complied with the stranger’s demands and separated at Greer Road.
That’s when the man followed one of the youths and again used the PA system, this time ordering the boy to stop, police said.
“When the student looked back, he saw flashing police-style lights emanating from inside the car,” police said.
The teen stopped his bike and the man pulled up alongside him, displayed a badge and “proceeded to angrily lecture him about his riding habits,” police said. The man then pointed either a stun gun or handgun at the roof of his car so the student could see it before driving away.
Police released a sketch of the man, described as a white male in his 60s with balding, short gray hair. He was about 5-foot-10 with a heavy build and wore a light blue collared shirt, similar to a uniform shirt.
The badge he displayed was silver but had a color design on it, with a green tree in the center. The man’s car was a cream-colored, four-door sedan with radio antennas on the roof.
Anyone with information is asked to call Palo Alto police at (650) 329-2413.
Source: blog.sfgate.com