Weld County Authorities Arrest Suspected Police Impersonator

A 34-year-old Brighton, Colorado man has been arrested by the Weld County Sheriff's Office after allegedly telling a couple that he was an undercover sheriff's deputy detailed to the FBI and demanding to see their IDs.

That's according to a post on the Weld County Sheriff's Department Facebook page.

The post says, Nathaniel Gilbert Lopez, was arrested on Friday following an incident on Thursday in which a couple hauling a horse trailer were almost hit by a black Charger which ran a red light in the Brighton area.

After the near-collision, the Charger followed them to their home. The couple asked the car's driver, later identified as Lopez, why he had followed them. Lopez allegedly made the claim about being an undercover deputy attached to the FBI.

During the conversation, Lopez allegedly kept pounding his fist into the dash and would stop to talk to someone inside his car who could not be seen.

He also demanded to see the couple's identification, which is considered an official police act. He fled the scene when the couple threatened to call the sheriff's office. The next day deputies on patrol on U.S. Highway 85 near Fort Lupton say a vehicle matching the description of the black Charger, with plates that also matched the suspect vehicle.

Deputies tried to pull the car over, but the Charger drove away, leading to a high-speed chase. Deputies broke off the chase due to safety concerns. Lopez ended up crashing into another car on Tucson street near Brighton. He was arrested and taken into custody, where he allegedly admitted to telling the couple that he was an undercover deputy.

He faces several traffic charges, including felony eluding. He may also be charged with felony impersonation of a police officer.

But investigators don't think he is the same person who allegedly impersonated a police officer in several incidents in northern Colorado at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.