Police: Drunk Pa. man sets up fake DUI checkpoint

Published 12:45 pm Wednesday, June 3, 2015

SOMERSET, Pa. — Police in Pennsylvania say an intoxicated man was arrested after setting up a drunken-driving checkpoint while pretending to be a state trooper.

According to a report filed by Trooper Joe Kozuch, 19-year-old Logan Shaulis of Somerset parked his vehicle in the middle of state Route 601 in Lincoln Township at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday morning, activated blue flashing lights and lit several flares before placing them on the road.

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Less than an hour later, according to the report, officers at the Pennsylvania State Patrol post in Somerset received a call from a motorist who said he had been stopped at the scene by Shaulis, who identified himself as a state trooper with the Patrol’s Drug and Alcohol Division. The motorist said Shaulis asked him to produce his driver’s license and registration and insurance cards. He added that Shaulis smelled of alcohol and “appeared to be acting weird.”

Before officers from the Pennsylvania State Patrol and the Somerset Borough Police Department arrived, Shaulis handed a BB gun to a female passenger in the car and told her, “I can’t get caught with this,” according to the report.

Shaulis was arrested and found to be under the influence of alcohol. He also had silver-hinged handcuffs and a portable police scanner in his vehicle, the report states.

He was booked into the Somerset County Jail on a $50,000 bond.