EUSTIS, Florida—A teenager is being held on $6,000 bond after flipping on red and blue lights as he pulled over near a disabled vehicle Tuesday night—in front of a Lake County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy.
Joshua Michael Mazenka, 18, of Umatilla, was driving a black 2011 Mercedes on State Road 19 in Eustis around 10 p.m. Tuesday when he saw a disabled vehicle, turned on his illegal red and blue lights and pulled over, according to an arrest affidavit.
An LCSO detention deputy on his way home, saw the disabled vehicle and as he attempted to pull over, the Mercedes pulled in front of him with the flashing red and blue lights in the windshield, the deputy told Eustis Police. The uniformed deputy stepped out of his vehicle and when Mazenka saw him, he reportedly said, “Oh (expletive,)” and fled the scene in his Mercedes. The deputy called dispatch and began following Mazenka through a neighborhood and eventually Mazenka stopped in the parking lot of Winn Dixie at State Road 19 and County Road 44, the affidavit states.
EPD officers responded and when Mazenka first saw them, he blurted out, “I (expletive) up,” according to the affidavit. Officers observed a light bar in the back window attached with suction cups, in addition to a light bar in the backseat with one suction cup attached, and one still stuck to the windshield. The light bars were very similar to those used in law enforcement vehicles, the arresting officer noted in the affidavit.
Mazenka agreed to speak with officers, and he told them he was traveling north on State Road 19 when he saw a vehicle stopped with its hazard lights on. He turned on his red and blue lights “for safety” and pulled over to help.
“The way he used (the lights) is the same way (police) would use them,” EPD Capt. Jon Fahning told Inside Lake.
Mazenka said he saw the detention deputy behind him and he “knew he was in trouble” so he fled the scene. Then he decided it was best to stop and he pulled over at Winn Dixie, he told police. He also said LCSO had pulled him over recently; in that incident in September, he was pulled over for driving recklessly in Leesburg and the deputy observed red and blue lights in the front and back, along with lights in the grill. The deputy told Mazenka to remove the lights and he was given a ticket for following too closely.
Mazenka told officers he bought the lights on Amazon.
He was arrested for impersonating a police officer and having red and blue lights on a vehicle and was transported to the Lake County Jail. The Mercedes was towed and when the car when inventoried, an airsoft pistol was found that was an exact replica of a Glock 17, in addition to a pellet rifle.
When officers returned to the original scene to help the disabled vehicle and its occupants, it had already been towed, according to the affidavit.
