Police: woman accosted by fake cop

A Temple Terrace woman listened to her instincts, and she's glad she did. Police say a man pretending to be a police officer stopped her at around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Raintree subdivision. 21-year-old Leah Simmerman was driving home. She says she noticed an SUV following her too closely.

"I was going to make sure that he rounded this corner before I started walking to my door," Simmerman told FOX 13.

She says instead of turning, the man in the vehicle turned around and stopped near her car. She was parked in her usual parking spot across the street from her home.

"I dialed 911 directly. I said 'this is not an emergency, but I think someone's following me,'" she recounted.

Simmerman circled through the neighborhood with 911 on the phone. She says the man continued to follow her. After several minutes, she stopped again a short distance from her home.

This time, the man got out of the SUV and approached her car.

"He knocked on my window. He told me to roll it down. I said 'no.' I said 'I'm on the phone with the police.' He said 'roll down the window. I'm a cop.'"

She partially rolled down the window. She says then the man asked her three questions. "Did I live in this area? Why didn't I park? And what was I doing here tonight?"

The dispatcher told Simmerman to ask to see his badge. When she died, he got into his car and drove away. Simmerman says the man was assertive, but not aggressive.

Police arrested 23-year-old Noah Miller leaving Raintree. In his car, investigators say they found a pistol, handcuffs, bullet proof vest, a baton, flashlight, and knife.

Police say Simmerman did the right thing and that citizens always have rights. "If you're in a dark area, they advise that you acknowledge the officer and say that you're going to pull over into a lighted area, a public area where everything can be seen," said spokesman Michael Dunn.

Raintree is mostly quiet, but signs posted warn or recent crime. Weeks ago, another woman was confronted in her garage, by a man with a gun.

"We inform them who to call if they see suspicious activity, to not hesitate if they see someone that looks like they shouldn't be here," said neighbor John Butler, who's involved with Raintree's crime watch group.

Simmerman doesn't like to think of what could've happened. "I don't think my imagination is good enough to figure out what he could've been up to," she said.

Miller faces charges of impersonating a police officer and false imprisonment. He was released from the Hillsborough County Jail on bond. Police say they don't know of a motive.