LAKE COUNTY, Ind. (WLS) -- A Lansing, Ill. man who Indiana State Police said was driving recklessly while with an emergency light activated has been charged with impersonating a police officer.
Police said 21-year-old Collin Hamlin was driving a tan Jeep Cherokee at a high rate of speed on I-80/94 near mile marker six in Lake County at about 10:20 p.m. Sunday.
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Hamlin was driving "recklessly" with a red and blue emergency light activated, which caused other motorists to yield, police said.
An Indiana state trooper ran the license plate on the Cherokee and discovered it was not a law enforcement vehicle and pulled the vehicle over.
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Police said Hamlin was "frantically" trying to unplug the emergency light as the trooper approached. Police said Hamlin told them he was always wanted to be a cop since he served as a junior cadet at an Illinois police department.
Hamlin has been charged with a felony count of impersonating a law officer, a misdemeanor count of reckless driving and three Class C infractions for emergency lights on an unauthorized private vehicle, unsafe lane movement and following too closely.