Fake cop busted in Wilkes neighborhood

Although he scared neighbors and kids in the Wilkes neighborhood, find out why this police impersonator is actually already back on the street …

Officers converge on an intersection in outer East Portland, in the Wilkes neighborhood, responding to reports of a man who’d been impersonating a cop.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Odd calls were coming into the 9-1-1 Center from the Wilkes neighborhood on the afternoon of June 12 – about an unusual “undercover cop car” trying to pull over drivers in the area.

A driver heading westbound on NE San Rafael Street near 136th Avenue thought was strange when a man driving a white 1995 Lincoln Town Car, heading toward him, slowed down near two younger girls.

What happened next was even more chilling: The approaching driver turned on flashing red and blue lights mounted in the middle of his windshield.
The girls froze, confused by the lights. Was this a police car?

Police find items used by the suspect while impersonating a police officer. PPB images

The person who witnessed the encounter made a U-turn and called 9-1-1, and then followed the Lincoln Town Car through the neighborhood – at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour.

“The witness told police that he caught up to the suspect at NE 148th Avenue and Halsey Street, and could see several electronic items on the dashboard,” reported Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson.

“The witness told police that he confronted the suspect verbally, and that the suspect apologized and offered to give the witness his lights!” Simpson added.

Police officers headed into the intersection at 1:43 p.m., and took the man into custody. Inside the vehicle, officers located the red and blue lights, a video dashcam, and a radar scanner. “Officers also located a replica firearm/BB gun in the vehicle,” Simpson added.

54-year-old Octavio Perez was arrested in this incident, but was almost immediately released from custody. MCDC booking photo

Arrested was 54-year-old Octavio Perez, who was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 3:44 p.m. that afternoon on one charge of Criminal Impersonation.

But, before the day was over, Perez was out of jail. The reason given for the release: “Released on Own Recognizance”.

Anyone with information about the identity of the girls, or anyone who has been stopped by Perez, is asked to call the Police Non-Emergency Line at 503-823-3333, reference case #16-187303; it may not be too late to get him back behind bars on more serious charges.

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