Police: Man Arrested For Impersonating Officer

A Bloomfield man has been charged with impersonating a police officer after a Tuesday, April 30 incident in which he ordered a motorist to pull over in Cedar Grove, police said.

Rocco Castiello, 72, who allegedly pretended to be a police officer, told the driver to pull over on East Bradford Avenue on Saturday, April 20, officials said.

A 24-year old woman told police a man in a green van, who was later identified as Castiello, said he was a police officer and ordered her to pull over, police said.

The incident took place after the woman pulled over after the traffic light at the intersection of East Bradford Avenue and Ridge Road, officials said.

Castiello then approached the car, reprimanded the woman for using a cell phone and issued her a warning, police said.

The woman, who questioned if the man was actually a police officer, contacted police, triggering the investigation, police said.

Castiello is not, and never has been a police officer, officials said.

"We were able to identify Castiello as a suspect based upon the victim's description of the wheel cover on the defendant's van," said Cedar Grove Police Chief Richard Vanderstreet. "One of our officers recognized the description and helped us to identify him as a suspect in the incident."

He was processed at police headquarters and released pending a court appearance at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 9 in Superior Court in Newark.