A woman who “fell in love with the color scheme” was arrested in Florida for painting her car to resemble a Florida Highway Patrol unit.
The woman, who owns a security company, was driving the black and tan Dodge in Miami on Oct. 10 when she caught the eye of real Florida Highway Patrol officers, according to USA Today.
According to the arrest report, Iulia Pugachev, 28, passed Florida Highway Patrol officers who were making a traffic stop.
The officers said they noticed the car had “FSO Guard” and a badge logo on the side, with a light bar on top.
The owner of a security company asked a car wrapping business to design a new company car in black and tan like Florida Highway Patrol cars. She was arrested. https://t.co/Sax0blXlFy
— Akron Beacon Journal (@beaconjournal) October 18, 2023
The officers quickly finished their stop and pulled Pugachev over.
At first, she told officers she was test-driving the vehicle, The Miami Herald reported. When officers told her that according to a Florida law, no vehicle in the state can have the same color scheme as Florida Highway Patrol cars, she said she was not aware of that when she purchased the vehicle, according to the arrest report, USA Today reported.
FHP officers then discovered that the license plate on the vehicle was the one the dealership gave her when she bought the Dodge Charger in July. However, the vehicle’s identification number showed that it was not registered in any state, according to the Herald.
As Pugachev was being arrested and after being read her Miranda rights, she told police that she bought the car for her security company.
She said she had a mechanic repair the car and install the light bar on top of the vehicle while it was being worked on. Next door to the mechanic was a car wrap business, Pugachev told officers, so she took her car there and asked them to make it up in black and tan because she “fell in love with the color scheme,” according to the arrest report.
Pugachev was issued a notice to appear for criminal violations of operating a motor vehicle with no registration, imitation of a Florida Highway Patrol unit and misuse of a dealer license plate.
