Driver pretended to be a cop and told woman, “We can do this the nice way or the bad way”

A motorist who posed as a police officer and threatened a young woman after forcing her to stop was released in court.

Morium Akther was driving to work when Kevin Armstrong drove alongside her while flashing white LED lights from his dashboard and telling her to stop.

Morium, 24, believed he was a police officer and was startled, parked her car in a driveway near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear and rolled down her window.

The 63-year-old told her she was driving too fast and dangerously and that he would give her a ticket.

When she refused, he told her, “We can do this either the nice way or the bad way.”

Morium was rescued by a commuter who realized Armstrong was pretending to be a cop and scared him off.

Armstrong was found guilty in South Tyneside Magistrates Court of impersonating a police officer and pleaded guilty to three other traffic offences.

However, he was able to walk away from court with a fine of £620, points on his license and community service.

Kevin Armstrong, 63, who forced Morium Akther, 24, to stop and told her: “We can either do this the nice way or the bad way.”

Data manager Morium, from Newcastle, said: “He pulled up his car next to mine and yelled at me to stop.

“He had flashing lights on his car and I thought he was a cop.

“He said I was speeding and going in and out of lane.

“When I told him it wasn’t me he got more aggressive and said he was going to give me a ticket.

“I was completely frozen, I didn’t know what was going on. I’ve never been stopped by the police, so I didn’t know if that was normal behavior for them.

“Eventually another driver stopped and told me he wasn’t a cop and I could leave.”

She added: “I never found out what his intentions were but it’s chilling to think about.

“If he had told me to get out of my car and get in his, I would have done it.

“I was so scared and would have left my phone in the car in my panic.

“He could have done anything to me.”

Morium Akther, 24, from Newcastle, said she was scared of Armstrong and would have done what he said had not another commuter stepped in and helped

Morium added: “He seemed very creepy and his tone was aggressive.

“After I drove away, I thought about how it could have been a lot worse.

“I kept thinking that I might have been hurt or killed.

“When he stopped me I didn’t think I was in any danger as I believed he was a legitimate police officer.”

Armstrong pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle and stopping it on a designated open road, allowing a vehicle to remain on a road to pose a hazard, and using a vehicle with an automatically emitted turn signal.

He initially denied posing as a police officer, but was found guilty in South Tyneside Magistrates Court.

Mr Armstrong, of Farndale Drive, Guisborough, North Yorkshire, was fined £620.

He also received three points toward his license, 120 hours of unpaid work, and 10 days of rehabilitation requirements.

Armstrong was found guilty in South Tyneside Magistrates Court of impersonating a police officer

Sharon Bryan, director of partnerships and development at the National Center on Domestic Violence, issued the light sentence.

She said: “It’s not a deterrent at all. Whatever excitement or thrill he gets will outweigh the punishment he received.

“The frightening thing is that we don’t know what could have happened if someone hadn’t intervened.

“It is not dramatic to say that if these behaviors are not stopped, they could lead to more violence and more women killed.”

Morium has also criticized the verdict, claiming he got off lightly.

She said: “He got off lightly. Three points for stopping someone and scaring them is nothing.

“Whenever I see flashing lights I get really scared and I think it’s him.

“I didn’t leave my house for a week after the incident.

“Looking back on the Sarah Everard case, I know Wayne Couzens was actually a cop but you never know what someone is capable of.

“He could have done anything to me.”