'Very unsettling': P.E.I. man calls 911 after being followed by van with fake police lights

RCMP on P.E.I. are investigating a report of a driver who appears to have been impersonating a police officer.

David Bambrick, 24, said he and his girlfriend were driving along the Trans-Canada Highway near Bonshaw Sunday night when a dark van flashing blue and red lights pulled out of a small dirt road and began following them. There were no police markings on the van.

"I knew when I drove by it that it wasn't a police officer and just — my instincts didn't feel comfortable, so I didn't pull over. I just stayed the speed limit and drove off for a little while," Bambrick said.

"Then after about five minutes, it just stops on the highway, turned around and went back the other way."

RCMP Sgt. Craig Eveleigh said Bambrick did the right thing by calling 911 when he became suspicious. Police confirmed they had no vehicles in the area at that time. The van has not been located.

It puts undue pressure on P.E.I. drivers and if they are caught doing it, there will be severe penalties for it.— RCMP Sgt. Craig Eveleigh

Anyone convicted of impersonating a police officer can face jail time and fines up to $5,000. 

Eveleigh said police are taking Sunday's incident very seriously.

"It puts undue pressure on P.E.I. drivers, and if they are caught doing it, there will be severe penalties for it."

Eveleigh said there is a heightened awareness of police impersonators after what happened in Nova Scotia in April, 2020.

That was when a man who at times was driving a fake RCMP cruiser killed 22 people during a 13-hour rampage. 

Bambrick said the Nova Scotia killings crossed his mind during the incident Sunday night.

"It's very unsettling," he said.

"If something happened because of this and then I didn't say anything, I would have felt pretty, pretty bad."

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