[naviga:img class="img-responsive" alt="James Cromarty" src="/Assets/news2015/0227DayCromarty.JPG"/]

James Cromarty

Police on Feb. 16 arrested a Waterford man they said drove aggressively in December in a Ford Crown Victoria he has equipped to resemble an Old Lyme police cruiser.

James Cromarty, 21, of 31 Vivian St., Waterford, was charged with driving a vehicle with intent to harass or intimidate.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit written by Trooper First Class Gary Inglis, a woman on Christmas Day alerted Inglis to a vehicle with license plates “3 OL” that was driving aggressively on Interstate 95 in East Lyme and Interstate 395 in Waterford.

According to the woman, the vehicle came up behind her in the left lane at a high rate of speed as she was passing another vehicle and going about 70 mph. When the vehicle tailgated her so closely she couldn’t see its headlights, she said, she sped up to 75 mph so she could get over more quickly.

The woman told police she watched the vehicle, which had a young male operator and a young female passenger, do the same thing to several other drivers.

She said she thought the black 2008 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, which had push bumpers and a spotlight on the driver’s side door, was an Old Lyme police cruiser.

Inglis said Cromarty later acknowledged he was in the area around the time of the alleged incident, but also asked Inglis what evidence there was to support the woman's complaint.

According to the affidavit, the so-called “look-alike cruiser” is known to local law enforcement and Cromarty has been stopped several times in Connecticut for speeding and other traffic violations.

First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, the affidavit states, told police she has received at least two complaints in the past two years about the vehicle driving aggressively in area towns.

In investigating the case, Inglis wrote, he learned that state Department of Motor Vehicles Sgt. Douglas Pratt, upon seeing the Police Interceptor in the inspection line at the Westersfield DMV in May, had asked his supervisors to revoke the “3 OL” plates and issue Cromarty different ones. The public, Pratt reasoned, likely would view a vehicle like Cromarty’s with those plates as one that’s driven by an Old Lyme police officer.

In the affidavit, Inglis wrote that he believes Cromarty obtained the vanity plates, push bumpers and spotlight on purpose so he could induce operators to move out of his way.

Cromarty, who posted a $500 bond, is next due in New London Superior Court Wednesday.