Detectives seek carjackers who impersonated officers near Turlock

Stanislaus County sheriff’s detectives are looking for two men believed to have impersonated police officers in a carjacking incident near Turlock early Tuesday.

According to authorities, deputies were called to the 3800 block of South Moffett Road at 5:20 a.m. on a report of a stolen vehicle.

“When deputies arrived, they found an adult male who reported his vehicle had been stolen by what he believed at the time was police officers,” Sgt. Anthony Bejaran said in a news release.

The victim told deputies he had left his home to go to work when he saw a dark-colored Ford Crown Victoria headed in the opposite direction on South Moffett.

“The driver of the Ford Crown Victoria made a U-turn and began to follow the victim,” Bejaran said. “(The victim) saw red and blue lights coming from the vehicle and believed it was a police car.”

The victim stopped his vehicle. Two men ordered him to get out of his truck and lie face down on the ground.

“He did as he was told and one of the males began to search him,” Bejaran said. “The victim felt what he believed to be a handgun at the back of his head and he did not move.”

The second man searched the victim’s truck, then drove away in it southbound on South Moffett. The other man left in the Crown Victoria.

Deputies had no description of the men, authorities said.

Investigators are trying to determine if the carjacking had anything to do with an earlier incident.

“While deputies were conducting their investigation, they also learned that minutes before the victim had been stopped, a homeowner on Faith Home Road just a few miles away had encountered two men on his property,” Bejaran said. “When he asked them what they were doing, they told him they were police officers and that he needed to go back inside of his residence.”

Bejaran said authorities want residents to report any suspicious vehicles that appear to be old police cars.

“These types of cars are sold at auctions and typically have spotlights still attached to them,” he said. “The red and blue lights on this specific incident are most likely after-market components attached to the vehicle.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Detectives seek carjackers who impersonated officers near Turlock."