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Westchester County resident Kimberly Nelson of New Rochelle, age 25, turned herself in to Connecticut State Police on Tuesday, Feb. 20 in connection with an incident that happened in March 2023, State Police announced on Thursday, Feb. 22.
According to police, on March 23, 2023, troopers received a call from a complainant who reported an incident on Interstate 691 East in the area of Exit 10 in the New Haven County city of Meriden.
The complainant told the trooper that he had been traveling on the Exit 10 ramp in heavy traffic when a gray Jeep Cherokee to his left tried to force its way on the exit ramp even though there was not enough space for it. To avoid being hit by this Jeep, the complainant had to move his vehicle onto the right shoulder, police said.
The complainant then moved into the middle lane to merge onto I-91 South. At this point, the gray Jeep was driving to his right and the driver, Nelson, lowered her window to speak obscenities to him, according to authorities.
Police said that the complainant then started traveling behind the Jeep on Route 15 southbound, following it as it exited at Exit 67S and traveled toward Main Street in Meriden. Nelson then allegedly abruptly applied her Jeep's brakes in the middle of the exit ramp, forcing the complainant to also quickly brake to avoid hitting it.
The two cars proceeded to travel onto East Main Street and entered a parking lot. It was at this point that the complainant disconnected from the 911 call he had been on as Nelson drove up next to him and again lowered her window to speak with him, according to police.
During the interaction between the two, the complainant told Nelson that police would soon be arriving at their location. She then responded by saying, "I’m law enforcement. Let me show you my badge. Let’s talk about it," police said.
After this, Nelson allegedly showed the complainant a gold-colored badge and identification in a wallet before leaving the parking lot. As she drove off, the complainant was able to grab her New York plate number and gave this information to the responding trooper, who also looked over his dash camera footage of the incident.
According to police, the footage contained audio confirming that Nelson had claimed she was law enforcement. Additionally, the footage showed Nelson slamming on her brakes on the Exit 67S ramp.
After an investigation into the incident, Nelson was identified as the Jeep's driver and was contacted by a trooper over the phone, who obtained her version of events leading up to the incident. Nelson allegedly told the trooper that she may have given the complainant the middle finger and showed them a badge. In response, the trooper told her she would have to meet with police to further discuss the matter, authorities said.
After this though, Nelson did not return any more calls from the police, leading the trooper to apply for a warrant for her arrest. After turning herself in on Tuesday, Nelson was charged with:
- Second-degree breach of peace;
- Second-degree reckless endangerment;
- Impersonation of a police officer.
Nelson was later released on a $5,000 bond and will be arraigned in Meriden Superior Court on Wednesday, March 6.
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