NJ woman thought she was being pulled over on Route 80 — it was a fake cop who cuffed her

🚨State Police say a Wayne man used emergency lights to stop a woman on Route 80

🚨The woman escaped after she says the driver handcuffed her

🚨Investigators want to hear from anyone else stopped by the same red Chrysler 200

ROXBURY — A New Jersey woman says she was handcuffed and nearly abducted after pulling over for what she thought was a real traffic stop on Route 80 — and now prosecutors are warning other drivers to come forward if they encountered the same fake cop.

The woman left her work in Saddle Brook around 2:15 a.m. on May 3 and was headed west on Route 80. When she reached Roxbury, a red Chrysler 200 with emergency lights signaled for her to pull over near Exit 28 (Route 46), according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll.

The driver, later identified as Julio D. Estrada-Mogollon, 36, of Wayne, asked the woman for her license and registration and removed her from her vehicle.

The woman's suspicions were raised when Estrada-Mogollon conducted a field sobriety test she believed was "inconsistent" with how it should be done. Estrada-Mogollon then handcuffed the woman, placed the woman under "arrest," and brought her to the back seat of her vehicle. He told the woman there were two ways to handle the situation: he could bring her to the police station for processing or "we can work something else out."

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Map shows location of Exit 28 on Route 80 in Roxbury

Woman escaped after asking to see a badge

When the woman asked to see Estrada-Mogollon's badge, he walked back to his vehicle giving her a chance to slip a hand out of the handcuffs and get behind the wheel. The woman drove to a convenience store to call her husband, where she realized her cell phone was missing.

The woman went to the State Police the next day to report the incident and identified Estrada-Mogollon. Her cell phone was recovered in Paterson.

DOT traffic cameras captured the stop on video. Investigators determined the sedan was registered to Estrada-Mogollon. He was arrested and charged with second-degree attempted kidnapping, third-degree theft by unlawful taking and fourth-degree impersonating a law enforcement officer. He is being held at the Morris County Correctional Facility.

State Police asked anyone who was pulled over by the same vehicle to contact them at 973‑347‑1001.

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