Man posing as police officer arrested, jailed

GLENDALE — It takes more than a badge and flashing lights to be a cop. A 22-year-old Glendale man was arrested on Tuesday for impersonating a police officer on Monday when he pulled over an off-duty Glendale Police detective and flashed a fake badge, officials said.

Shabod Hosseini was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a police officer, and for false imprisonment, for stopping and detaining Glendale Police Det. Keith Soboleski , Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.

Soboleski was traveling north on the Golden State (5) Freeway near the Western Avenue exit at about 10:15 p.m. in his own car when he noticed a compact car — later identified as a 2006 four-door Honda Civic — behind him, Balian said.

Red and blue lights were flashing from the windshield area of the Civic, and Hosseini was also allegedly flashing the car’s headlights as if signaling to Soboleski to pull over, Balian said.

Soboleski, who at that time believed an undercover police officer was pulling him over, exited the freeway at Olive Street in Burbank, Balian said.

The detective stopped at the corner of Olive Street and Orange Grove Avenue, and Hosseini allegedly pulled up in front of him, which seemed suspicious, Soboleski said.

“We always pull behind,” he said.

Then Hosseini allegedly exited the car holding a gold-colored badge — later identified as a security badge — and walked over to Soboleski, who was still in his car, Balian said.

“When he walked up, he was kind of cupping [the badge] so you could only see part of it, and that’s not normal,” Soboleski said.

Hosseini allegedly told Soboleski that he was a police officer and that Soboleski needed to slow down, Balian said.

“He obviously seemed very comfortable,” Soboleski said.

But when the detective began questioning Hosseini, asking for identification and to see the badge, Hosseini allegedly became nervous, Balian said.

He then allegedly ran to his car and drove off, Balian said.

Soboleski, who wrote down the car’s license-plate number, enlisted the help of Glendale and Burbank police.

Police found Hosseini on Tuesday standing next to the Civic they believe he used the night before, which was parked in front of his home.

“The main concern is obviously he didn’t know that this was a police officer driving this vehicle, so this could have happened to a citizen out there,” Balian said.

Similar impersonations in other area have led to sexual crimes and burglaries, Balian said.

“At this point, we don’t know what the motive was,” he said. “Maybe he’s so confident that he’s done this in the past and people never reported it because they thought it was a real police officer.”

If citizens are pulled over and have any doubt about the person stopping them, they should ask for a picture identification, Balian said.

Hosseini posted $20,000 bail Tuesday and was released from the Glendale City Jail.

He will be arraigned in Glendale Superior Court on Oct. 23.

“He had his glory for a minute, but unbeknownst to him, he was stopping a real police officer,” Soboleski said.

Hosseini is described as 5-foot-8-inches tall, 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with more information should contact Glendale Police Det. Art Frank at (818) 548-4818.