Man Arrested in Police Impersonation

Gwinnett County police arrested a Lawrenceville man Monday after the suspect reportedly impersonated police in unincorporated Lilburn.

Josue Cruz-Ayala, 19, allegedly used dashboard-mounted blue and white lights to try and pull over Jason Milczek in the area of Five Forks Trickum and Killian Hill Road on Nov. 13, Cpl. Edwin Ritter said in an emailed release.

Milczek, a Lilburn resident, suspected that the driver of the black Ford Explorer was not a police officer, so instead of stopping, he called the police and continued driving. When he ran out of gas, Milczek reported, Cruz-Ayala pulled up next to him, threw an empty bottle at his car and drove away.

Milczek was able to get the license plate number of the Explorer, but the house at the registration address was vacant.

Gwinnett police on Monday spotted the SUV at the 400 block of Strickland Court, and officers followed the driver until they were able to stop him for making an unsafe lane change and for a window tint violation.

During the investigation, officers found that Cruz-Ayala had mounted flashing lights similar to those used by police and that he had been involved in a "road rage type" incident with Milczek on Nov. 13, according to the release.

The suspect was charged with fleeing or eluding police, "as the impersonation of a police vehicle," and reckless conduct in the Nov. 13 incident, Ritter said. He was also cited for an improper turn and unlawful tint.

Cruz-Ayala and the Nov. 13 incident aren't related to a recent report of a police impersonator pulling over a woman. That case is being investigated, and there have been no new developments, Ritter said.