Impostor was really a sheriff’s deputy, Wichita police say

Wichita police say that a man they thought was posing as a state trooper early Saturday turned out to be a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy.

Wichita police Sgt. Scott Brunow said Sunday that the 1 a.m. Saturday stop turned out to involve an on-duty sheriff’s deputy.

The city officer thought he’d pulled upon a routine traffic stop early Saturday on I-135 near Harry, where an unmarked navy blue Crown Victoria with red lights had stopped a woman driving a tan car. The vehicle resembled a state trooper’s cruiser, so the police officer pulled over to provide backup, a routine move during overnight stops.

However, the officer in the blue car then sprinted back to his car, got in the driver’s side, flipped on his lights and sirens and sped away.

Brunow said he had no further details on the Saturday stop.

Two other stops continue to be investigated by the KHP, one in mid-July northwest of Nashville in southern Kansas and another July incident in Miami County where a woman was sexually assaulted.