Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Report: Man impersonating officer arrested after pulling over Metro cop

Pedro Franco Esquivel

metro police

Pedro Franco Esquivel

Last month, a man impersonating an emergency responder pulled over a citizen on a southeast valley freeway. The next day, he pulled over a Metro Police officer in an undercover vehicle, according to an arrest report.  

Pedro Franco Esquivel was arrested Jan. 23 and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on one count of impersonating a public officer, according to Metro. 

A Las Vegas Justice Court judge let him walk out of jail with “intensive supervision” and without setting bail, but Franco Esquivel, 29, has to appear in pretrial services once a week, logs show. 

A motorist reported that on Jan. 22 a Hyundai Tucson on U.S. 95 pulled him over near Sunset Road, according to the arrest report. 

The motorist said that the compact SUV, which had red and blue sirens on the grill, pulled him over but took off, police said.

The motorist followed the Hyundai, got the plate number, and later in the day hailed a Metro officer and told him what happened, police said.

Early the next morning, an on-duty Metro officer in an unmarked squad car was driving on Mt. Hood Street when the same Hyundai pulled him over, police said.

The Hyundai kept going, and the officer followed it to a nearby neighborhood, where he cuffed Franco Esquivel, according to the report.

Franco Esquivel will next appear in court on March 24. Court logs don’t list a lawyer who can comment on his behalf.