CHP Arrests Driver Impersonating Chinese Paramilitary Police

https://www.thedrive.com/news/29927/highway-patrol-arrests-driver-impersonating-chinese-paramilitary-police-with-audi-a4

by tomcam • 7 years ago

45 61 7 years ago

thedrive.com

tomcam• 7 years ago

This tactic is also being used in Australia. These men are Chinese secret police here on tourist visas, harassing the families of prominent Hong Kong demonstrators.

EDIT: that was incendiary and almost certainly incorrect. As others have pointed out, the Chinese police are much smarter about this kind of thing. It’s much more likely to be dumb teenagers.

delfinom• 7 years ago

"secret"

Drives around in Chinese marked vehicle on public roads with an invalid license plate.

ttul• 7 years ago

If this is true, it's pretty egregious of the Chinese state to be so blatantly interfering in the affairs of American residents. I mean, if you're going to harass HK supporters, do so ... clandestinely?

mc32• 7 years ago

Yah I mean, as if they quickly took over the southland and imposed Chinese law anon and started going after dissidents in this new land of theirs.

booboolayla• 7 years ago

Was that Diane Feinstein's driver?

ilamont2• 7 years ago

Lots of drivers in the U.S. have military seals or decals on their vehicles, often to show support for a particular service branch that they or a relative is associated with.

I've also heard of journalists and PIs using vehicles that look like undercover/unmarked police cars to get access to areas that might otherwise be off-limits to civilians - they sometimes get waved through perimeters or won't be ticketed/towed if they park in restricted areas.

Could this be someone showing support for Chinese police with over-the-top decals? Or was the driver actively pretending to be a Chinese police officer or is a police officer claiming some right to operate outside of China? The article didn't make the circumstances clear, other than the car obviously has the markings and seals.

ETA: Just remembered another odd situation/use case for fake police cars - as art or performance props. The UK band/art collective I used to work for, The KLF, featured a 1968 Ford Galaxy police cruiser in many of their videos, with the lights and paint intact but modifications to the seal and motto (using "To Serve and Protect" and the band's Pyramid Blaster logo). You can see a picture of it on the back of some of their 45s (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctorin%27_the_Tardis) and I know they drove it around London for the 3 A.M. Eternal video.

And in the Boston area there are owners of old Ford LTDs with Boston Police logos from the 1980s and 1990s which are used as movie props (see https://www.universalhub.com/2018/old-boston-police-cruisers...).

ceejayoz2• 7 years ago

They recalled an incident earlier this summer wherein another Asian driver with Chinese markings on his car was arrested following an attempt to pull over an off-duty police officer.

That's beyond just having decals.

Alupis• 7 years ago

It's more than that even - there is at least one other identical car driving around doing the same things in the same area too, according to TFA.

Plus the one you've referenced - that makes 3 of these driving around harassing people in the US.

_bxg1• 7 years ago

Is this some kind of weird role-playing fantasy? Who in their right mind would expect not to be identified as a fraud, impersonating an officer in the wrong country?

ryanmercer3• 7 years ago

I've also heard of journalists and PIs using vehicles that look like undercover police cars to get access to areas that might otherwise be off-limits to civilians

Never, ever, ever, ever buy a similar make/model and color car of any common current police car. People will drive SO SLOW in front of you because as soon as they see you in their mirror they think you're an unmarked car. grumbles and is glad a lot of the departments here are switching to SUVs the past couple of years. When I first bought my 2013 Impala (in late '13 when they were the common cruiser here), I'd have people in front of me actually let off the gas and drop 10-15mph when I'd get behind them on the interstate eye twitch. It doesn't help that every department has unmarked vehicles here (and have over the years) including Camaros, Toyota and Ford pickup trucks, Escalades, Corvettes, the same made and model of their rest of the fleet, etc. They'eve even used semis to get tickets over the past several years [1]

There is a used car lot by my work that ONLY sells used police cars, they've been there for at least 20 years, and I just don't know why people would go buy them. Most of them still have spotlights on them, the only way I can rationalize people buying them is that they buy them WANTING people to think they are law enforcement.

[1] https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2019/07/16/indiana...

seanmcdirmid5• 7 years ago

Now you really don’t want to buy a ford compact SUV, especially if it’s black.

cr0sh• 7 years ago

There is a used car lot by my work that ONLY sells used police cars, they've been there for at least 20 years, and I just don't know why people would go buy them.

Sometimes it's the whole "role playing" thing.

But sometimes - depending on the make/model/etc - it's to get the cop car performance package. As long as the car hasn't been beat to hell, it's a cheap way to get a nice upgrade on what is usually otherwise a low-tier/grandma kind of car.

The Ford Crown Vic with the Interceptor package was one of the "go-to" upgrade kind of cars. Horrible gas mileage. But if you got one with the upgraded gas tank (with racing bladder installed - because they had issues exploding in fiery death when rear ended - ala Pinto) - plus all the rest - it was supposedly one helluva vehicle to drive. And cheap because ugly and used.

While you could do something similar with some other car (ie - LS1 a Honda Civic or something like that) - you would end up spending way, way more money on everything needed to do such an upgrade (also - the CV was rear-wheel drive, which is rare to non-existent in sedans).

seanmcdirmid5• 7 years ago

Ya, this would never pass for a real police car in China. It’s a black Audi, the official car of choice...it wouldn’t be degraded with any decals at all. Those are the kinds of markings you on a Volkswagen or Hyundai.

algaeontoast3• 7 years ago

YouTuber who lives in China actually made a video about the incident - he claims it was likely to intimidate Chinese nationals in a densely Chinese settled area of Irvine CA

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oypp6AeB4pg

cure• 7 years ago

The UK band/art collective I used to work for, The KLF

Wow, you must have some awesome stories. "That time when we burned a million pounds..."

ilamont2• 7 years ago

I left before that but was around when they carried out some of their other unusual publicity/performance activities. https://www.mondo2000.com/2017/08/28/klf-at-the-brit-awards-...

xxpor2• 7 years ago

Could this be someone showing support for Chinese police with over-the-top decals? Or was the driver actively pretending to be a Chinese police officer or is a police officer claiming some right to operate outside of China? The article didn't make the circumstances clear, other than the car obviously has the markings and seals.

https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-472.html appears to be the law they're charging the person with having broken.

with intent to defraud another

Looks like they have to prove intent. If they were just driving around that sounds hard to prove. Especially if their defense is "it just looks cool" or something.

I'm not a lawyer, so I wonder if there's some standard of per se intent that I don't know about.

reaperducer4• 7 years ago

I've also heard of journalists and PIs using vehicles that look like undercover/unmarked police cars to get access to areas that might otherwise be off-limits to civilians - they sometimes get waved through perimeters or won't be ticketed/towed if they park in restricted areas.

In some states this is actually codified.

In New York and New Jersey, if you are a member of the press working in the New York City metro (and verified by the state), you can get license plates with NYP on them for "New York Press." I don't know if Connecticut does it, too.

sofaofthedamned• 7 years ago

Never thought I'd see the KLF mentioned here, one of the greatest artists of my youth

ceejayoz2• 7 years ago

What sort of idiot impersonates Chinese police in the United States? To the point of trying to actually pull people over?

codesushi422• 7 years ago

I don't know.

But it makes me feel better about the second amendment.

AnimalMuppet4• 7 years ago

If tomcam is right that these are actually Chinese secret police. If so, and you're some random person with a gun, reaching for it might be a very bad idea. (Even if the Chinese secret policeman doesn't have a gun, it could still be a very bad idea.)

AnimalMuppet4• 7 years ago

Yeah. I mean, impersonating US police might actually get you somewhere. But Chinese police? I get pulled over by someone pretending to be Chinese police, and I'm going to tell them to get lost.

Unless (as tomcam says) these are actual Chinese police, blatantly here in the US, trying to tell dissidents "even here we can get to you".

gpm2• 7 years ago

I get pulled over by someone pretending to be Chinese police, and I'm going to tell them to get lost.

Personally... I'd call the non-Chinese drops and drive as quickly as possible to the closest police station.

corodra• 7 years ago

Without a USA liaison, they can't do that and it's illegal for them to do so.

No one should ever take someone seriously acting on behalf of a foreign country trying to arrest you in America. Even Interpol needs a USA liaison.

Leary2• 7 years ago

Clearly this is one of those mainlanders with more money than sense who did this as a "joke".

mieseratte• 7 years ago

What makes you say "Clearly?" According to TFA this isn't the first, recent incident.

Leary2• 7 years ago

Because nobody who can read Chinese would think this car is real, it looks entirely like a joke.

loser777• 7 years ago

I’d be really surprised if the Chinese “secret police” drive around with an array of plushies on the passenger side dash. However neglecting motor vehicle law is very typical in Irvine in my experience.

bitwize• 7 years ago

A scary thought I had was of the actual Chinese police coordinating with CHP and California DAs to crack down on this sort of thing, under threat of Tencent pulling its money out of Hollywood or something.

eznoonze• 7 years ago

You don't need Hollywood for that. It's exactly what is happening in Hong Kong.

seanmcdirmid5• 7 years ago

Doesn’t the CHP know a real black Audi police car in China would have no markings at all? This is the car of choice for the higher end CPC police, who are neither in uniform (well, the typical MIB uniform) nor would their car be so easily identified.

Heck, one way to avoid getting pulled over by the police in Beijing is to drive around in a black Audi. They’ll automatically think you are some kind of big wig who they shouldn’t mess with (unless by other black Audi driving police).

sremani• 7 years ago

A8 or A6 ? Just curious.

seanmcdirmid5• 7 years ago

It depends on their rank. An A4 like the one in he article would be pretty low rank wise.

reaperducer4• 7 years ago

Doesn’t the CHP know a real black Audi police car in China would have no markings at all?

Why should they? Is it common for police officers in California to study the customs of police departments around the world?

seanmcdirmid5• 7 years ago

Sure, I didn’t mean that in serious way, just that this wouldn’t have been mistaken for a real cop car in China. How would the CHP know that, surely they wouldn’t.

It’s just so obviously fake in a tuhao way, like seeing POLICE printed on a Porsche or something.

koolba• 7 years ago

Does this have any connection to those Chinese scam calls where the scammer claims to have kidnapped your family?

jkdksdj• 7 years ago

How is this related to tech news?

sneak• 7 years ago

It’s a failed attempt at hacking. The name of this site is not Tech News.

HeavenFox• 7 years ago

I'll bet $50 it's a Chinese student / new immigrant who put this on as a joke. It's like some American drivers got fake European plates for their Mercedes. Yeah, it's stupid, but hardly something one goes to jail for.

And some guy tried to pull over a police officer? Either he's dumb beyond belief, or more likely the officer mistook him for actual police.

algaeontoast3• 7 years ago

I walked by Harvard on my way to work every day last year (didn't work at Harvard but nearby). I'd commonly see expensive german cars with Chinese symbols spray painted on them in gold spray paint.

It turned out this was a common "joke" international students from China would play on each other. Sometimes between couples who were dating according to a friend who was able to translate the spray painted language. It's disgusting.

algaeontoast3• 7 years ago

I'm curious how "armed" police that "protect" Hasidic jewish neighborhoods in New York haven't attracted similar negative attention?

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/18/nyregion/brooklyns-privat...

xxpor2• 7 years ago

They're semi-offical. NY State has given them money in the past:

http://matzav.com/boro-park-shomrim-to-receive-bullet-proof-...

youeseh2• 7 years ago

No mention of Alex Roy anywhere.

ficklepickle• 7 years ago

Except in the comments

youeseh2• 7 years ago

Comment. Juuust one :(

ibarrajo• 7 years ago

I would love to see a news article where Fremont's brewery "Beer Patrol" Crown Victoria is mistaken for an actual official cop car.

https://pasteboard.co/IykxzXT.png

reaperducer4• 7 years ago

I remember that happening to a pizza joint in the 90's. It was called something like "Pizza 911" and delivered in a vehicle made to resemble a patrol vehicle.

gpm2• 7 years ago

Note that these vehicles are apparently not just driving around, but actually trying to pull people over!?

They recalled an incident earlier this summer wherein another Asian driver with Chinese markings on his car was arrested following an attempt to pull over an off-duty police officer.

m463• 7 years ago

Maybe he shouldn't have been ignoring those chinese-language phone calls about some trouble with his green card application.

More seriously, I wish there was a simple as star-69 service for phishing phone calls, maybe call it star-86

trhway• 7 years ago

i wonder what that guy's (at least it was a guy behind the wheel when i saw the car on the road once, and the car had the police style color scheme and that text from rear bumper repeated on the sides too) experience has been https://uptownalmanac.com/2010/01/meanwhile-mountain-view

CHP Arrests Driver Impersonating Chinese Paramilitary Police

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