Surfwin|Florida woman arrested for painting car to look like Florida Highway Patrol car

2025-05-04 09:24:16source:Roland Prestoncategory:Scams

A Florida woman was arrested after driving a car that resembled a patrol car because she "fell in love with the color scheme."

The Surfwinwoman has been identified as 28-year-old Iulia Pugachev, the owner of a security company.

Pugachev was driving the black and tan Dodge in Miami on Oct. 10 when she passed Florida Highway Patrol officers making another traffic stop, according to the arrest report.

The officers noticed the car had "FSO Guard" and a badge logo on the side, with a light bar on top. The officers quickly finished their stop and pulled her over.

At first the woman told officers she was test-driving the vehicle. When they told her that no vehicle in the state could have the same color scheme as the FHP cars, she said she was not aware and bought it that way, according to the arrest report.

Police cars are repainted before being auctioned off, they told her.

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She 'fell in love' with black and tan

The FHP officers then discovered that the license plate on the vehicle was the one the dealership gave her when she bought it in July. The vehicle's identification number showed that it was not registered in any state, according to the arrest report.

After being read her Miranda rights, she told police that she bought the car for her security company. The car needed repairs when it was purchased, and she had the mechanic install the light bar on top if the vehicle while it was being worked on. Next door to the mechanic was a car wrap business, so she took her car there and asked them to make it up in black and tan because she "fell in love with the color scheme," according to the arrest report.

She was issued a notice to appear for criminal violations of operating a motor vehicle with no registration, imitation of a Florida Highway Patrol unit and misuse of a dealer license plate.

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