A Chicago man driving a vehicle with police-style red and blue lights tried to illegally pull over a woman after she left a Norridge gas station Dec. 14, police said.
Ralph Farbman, 59, of the 5300 block of North Cumberland Avenue, was charged with impersonating a police officer four days later.
According to police, Farbman flashed a badge and identified himself as a federal law enforcement agent to a woman pumping gas about 9:30 p.m. at the Shell gas station on Cumberland and Foster avenues.
Farbman pulled up next to the woman while she was parked at the gas pump and asked her where she was going, police said. She became scared and started to drive away, police said, but he began following her in his 2001 Mercedes SUV.
She was stopped at a red light in the left turn lane at Foster Avenue waiting to turn north onto Cumberland when Farbman pulled up behind her and flashed his red and blue lights in an attempt to get her to pull over, according to a police report.
When she kept driving, he turned on his lights again after several more blocks before turning off into a parking lot off of Cumberland, the police report said.
The woman then drove onto the highway and continued driving around because she was afraid he would follow her home, the police report said.
An employee at the Shell gas station told police that Farbman comes into the station regularly and tells people he's a U.S. Marshal, according to the police report. Farbman was arrested Dec. 18 at the gas station when the employee called Norridge police to tell them he had returned.
According to police, the employee said Farbman hangs out at the gas station every day, and is "constantly turning the lights on and flashing them at customers, like a joke," according to the report. He also would flash his badge and identify himself as a police officer and ask the gas station clerk for free food, police said.
Farbman later told police that he works for a light distributor out of Wisconsin and that he flashes his lights for his friends at the gas station "because they like it," police said.
He admitted to flashing his lights at the woman Dec. 14 but said it was "just to say hello," police said.
He was carrying a gold and silver badge inscribed with the words "Chief Investigator/Investigative Legal Consultants" on it when he was arrested, police said.
Police said further investigation of Farbman showed he has a revoked concealed carry permit and is a convicted felon. Police also said he does not hold a private investigators license.
When reached by phone, Farbman told the Pioneer Press that he carries a badge for his private investigating business.
"I'm an investigator, and I have a badge that says 'chief investigative officer,'" he said. "The person who saw the badge misread it the wrong way — it is legitimate."
Farbman also confirmed to the Pioneer Press that he turned on his lights, which he said are from the light manufacturing business he works for in Wisconsin.
"I'm a distributor for a light manufacturer, so I have samples in my car all day," he said. "It's basically a case of she said-he said."
Farbman declined comment when asked if he followed the woman and turned on the lights in an attempt to pull her over.
The Cook County state's attorney's office confirmed Farbman was released from jail with an electronic monitoring device following a Dec. 24 court appearance in Rolling Meadows.
He is scheduled to appear in court again at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 8.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...lice-impersonator-tl-1231-20151228-story.html
