Police: Queens man tails woman home, pretends to be cop

He followed her home in a car with flashing lights, and when her father came outside, Paul O'Sullivan placed his hand near his waistband and warned them: "I am a police officer. Back off," police said.

It turns out O'Sullivan, 46, of 142-39 249th St., Rosedale, Queens, isn't a police officer. But Tuesday, he was arrested by one.

O'Sullivan was charged with first-degree criminal impersonation, Nassau County police said. He was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Just after midnight Monday in Valley Stream, O'Sullivan followed a woman, 20, who was driving home from Glen Oaks, Queens, police said. At some point, police said, O'Sullivan turned on flashing red emergency lights.

Police said the woman called her father on her cell phone, then drove down her block and was met by her father outside the house.

O'Sullivan drove into the driveway, and when the woman and her father approached his car, O'Sullivan made his comment, police said.

The father and daughter went into the house, police said. O'Sullivan drove "over the front lawn" and off on Fir Street, police said.