Accused Police Impersonator to be Arraigned

Allen Grabovetsky, 19, accused of several counts of impersonating a police officer on Dec. 6, 2010, waived his preliminary hearing on March 10 and is now scheduled for arraignment March 24.

The preliminary hearing would have allowed Grabovetsky to challenge the evidence tying him to the crimes he is being charged with. The waiving of the hearing led to a judgement of reasonable probable cause of evidence that Grabovetsky committed the four counts of impersonating an officer, two counts of making criminal threats and the misdemeanor charge of annoying and molesting a minor.

The counts of impersonating an officer stem from Grabovetsky being stopped Dec. 6 by Redwood City police after a number of complaints about someone using a siren to pull people over and asking for money to let them go—complaints from Millbrae, Highway 101 near the San Francisco Airport and Highway 1, as well as in Redwood City.

Grabovetsky is also charged with sending threats by text, as well as “annoying and molesting a minor” in relation to a complaint that he allegedly tried to convince a 15 year-old girl at Hillsdale Mall to “come back with me to my truck,” according to police reports. This last charge carries the potential requirement of life-time registration as a sex-offender.

Grabovetsy’s lawyer, Anthony Gibbs, said that Grabovetsky is getting help for a drug problem while in custody.

The arraignment is scheduled for 8:45 a.m., March 24 and Grabovetsky remains in custody until then.