NEVER SHOULD HAVE STOPPED FOR DONUTS:

Cops: Boozing ‘patrolman’ not one of us (Michele McPhee, 6/15/06, Boston Herald)

Chugging vodka, and yelling “Pull over!” - a homeless man playing policeman hijacked an unattended cruiser and raced around the city with flashing lights and wailing sirens until the real cops slammed the brakes on his joy ride, police said.

It took transit police at least an hour to locate Car 7089 with cop wannabe Jeffrey P. Jarosz at the wheel, and only after other motorists - apparently doubting the apparently drunken 51-year-old suspect was connected to law enforcement - called 911.

Now Jarosz - who has a long record of bad behavior - is back on the wrong end of the legal system, held on $100,000 bail after being charged in Brighton District Court on charges of drunken driving, impersonating a police officer and stealing a motor vehicle.

And the MBTA police are reassessing where they leave the keys to cruisers.

Of course, the new passive breathalyzer technology would have prevented that.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 15, 2006 8:00 AM