MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Troopers arrested a 28-year-old woman on Tuesday in Miami-Dade County for driving a Dodge Charger with a blue and white light bar and an emergency siren that appeared to belong to the Florida Highway Patrol, records show.
Trooper Alexander Monte De Oca Viera reported Iulia Pugachev was driving northbound on State Road 826, just north of Northwest 58 Street, and he was able to stop her at 74 Street.
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“It is a 1st-degree misdemeanor for a vehicle to be painted with the same color scheme prescribed for FHP vehicles,” FHP Lt. Carlos Vanegas wrote.
Pugachev said a mechanic at 21 Used Cars in Hollywood had added the light bar system to the car and the body shop had done the rest, according to Monte De Oca Viera’s arrest report.
“Mrs. Pugachev stated she requested the wrap business next to the body shop to wrap the vehicle in black and tan because she had previously seen FHP’s marked patrol units and fell in love with the color scheme,” Monte De Oca Viera wrote.
Pugachev told the FHP trooper the car was purchased through Copart, an online vehicle auction, and that although she was driving it to and from home, it was used for FSO Guard, her security company, records show.
Dmitry Pugachev, the owner of the Crocus Group, the car dealership in Hollywood that provided the temporary license plate that she said had been on the car for about a month, was her passenger, according to Monte De Oca Viera’s report.
The Miami Regional Communications Center found the car was last registered out of Louisiana, and did not have a registered license plate, Monte De Oca Viera wrote in his report for FHP.
The troopers accused Iulia Pugachev of operating a motor vehicle without registration, misusing a dealer license plate, and engaging in the imitation of the FHP marked unit, and arrested her.