‘Don’t you know how to use a turn signal?’ Court docs detail exchange between alleged fake cop and real cop

The Maryland man accused of posing as an officer when he pulled over a Montgomery County cop driving an unmarked cruiser asked him: “Don’t you know how to use a turn signal?” court records said.

Melvin Andrew Pinkney Jr., 43, was driving a Ford Taurus when he initiated the 12:15 a.m. traffic stop on Monday in downtown Silver Spring.

The Montgomery County officer, who was on a special assignment, first noticed Pinkney’s car because it resembled an unmarked police vehicle.

Pinkney, driving a maroon Taurus behind the county officer, shifted lanes to follow him and activated the Taurus’s red and blue emergency lights, prompting the officer to pull over near the intersection of Colesville Road and Greyrock Drive.

Lights on, lights off

Pinkney, of California, Maryland, exited the Taurus and began walking toward the officer’s vehicle. The officer activated his unmarked vehicle’s lights, prompting Pinkney to rush back to the Taurus and turn off its emergency lights, court records said.

The officer approached Pinkney, who asked him about his familiarity with turn signals. Pinkney told the officer that he worked for St. Mary’s County and that he was allowed to use the Taurus “anywhere in the state and make traffic stops anywhere in the state as well,” according to court records.

Pinkney also said he was on his way to work a part-time job at an Ethiopian restaurant. He and the officer then separated.

The officer then looked up the Taurus’ vehicle registration and saw that the car was registered to Pinkney and not any government agency or law enforcement department.

At the restaurant

A second Montgomery County police officer then went to the restaurant where Pinkney said he works, and saw him wearing “a duty belt with a badge similar to a Montgomery County Police Badge,” court records said.

The belt contained a handgun, taser, handcuffs, pepper spray and expandable baton.

The second officer asked Pinkney for his credentials and he responded that he was working security at the restaurant. The officer again asked Pinkney for his credentials and Pinkney could not provide any, court records said.

A third officer then asked Pinkney if he was an officer and Pinkney said he was not but that he was in the process of getting hired by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office.

Pinkney was arrested when the officer whom he had pulled over confirmed his identity.

Pinkney is charged with impersonating a police officer. He had a bail review on Tuesday in Montgomery County District Court. A judge held him on $5,000 bail, which he has posted, according to a courthouse clerk.

Pinkney’s public-defense attorney was not reached for comment on Thursday.

Police have said that Pinkney, in addition to claiming he worked at the sheriff’s office in St. Mary’s County, also said he retired from the Washington D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.

Both departments have said that Pinkney never worked for them. A spokesperson for St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday that Pinkney was not in the process of being hired.