Livermore Labs employee reports phony looking police SUV

LIVERMORE, Calif. (KGO) -- Police say there is a fake officer, complete with an official-looking SUV, stalking people in the East Bay. An employee at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory says she was followed all the way to Tracy by what appeared to be a Livermore police SUV.

Investigators are trying to rule out the possibility the suspicious SUV did not belong to a different police agency and someone was simply driving home along the same route. One thing is for sure - Livermore police know that it was not one of their vehicles.

The reason why they know it wasn't one of their officers is because the Livermore Police Department uses only Ford Explorer SUVs and all patrol vehicles have distinctive black and white paint schemes with police decals on the side. That's not the kind of vehicle that was following the Livermore Labs employee.

"She noticed a white SUV which was she described as either a Tahoe or Chevy Suburban," said Livermore police Sgt. Steve Goard.

That white Tahoe or suburban had a police light bar on top, but unlike real patrol cars with simple "LIVERMORE POLICE" lettering. The suspicious vehicle had the words capitalized and uncapitalized. The caller says the SUV followed her for miles along Greenville and Tesla roads all the way to Tracy. Because she was unnerved, she never went home and pulled off into a private driveway and the suspicious SUV drove by.

The next day, at Livermore Labs a flier was passed out giving other employees a heads up about what happened.

"When they published their internal flier, another employee came forward and reported that they saw a similar vehicle, or they saw what they believe was the same vehicle described just traveling northbound on Vasco Road," Goard said.

Investigators are hoping anyone who spots this suspicious SUV around the labs or around town will give police a call.

And if they ever think a phony cop is trying to pull them over, they should call 911 immediately.