New Jersey law enforcement on Friday ended their week-long search for a suspect who’s been impersonating a cop after arresting 18-year-old Dean Pluchino.
The Raritan Township Police Department warned drivers on Jan. 9 that they had received numerous reports of a man in an unmarked vehicle attempting to pull over motorists, urging residents to be cautious and report any suspicious activity.
On Friday, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office released a statement announcing that investigators had identified the suspect and vehicle connected to the alleged trickery. Investigators executed a search warrant at a home in Raritan Township, where both Pluchino and his vehicle were found.
Pluchino was taken into custody Friday morning and has since been charged by Raritan police with two counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer and one count of tampering with evidence. The Readington Township Police Department similarly charged him with impersonating a cop.
Pluchino was released on conditional pretrial monitoring, prosecutors said.
If convicted, he faces up to 18 months behind bars and fines of $10,000 on each of the charges against him.
A motive for his actions wasn’t clear.
