River Rouge man takes plea, goes to jail in fake k-9 cop case

(WJBK) - A River Rouge man charged with impersonating a police officer, has accepted a plea deal.

Blake Purvis, 23, pleaded no contest to one charge in 36th District Court Monday, in exchange for two other charges being dismissed. 

He was serving a year for violating his probation and impersonating a police officer in a previous case. Per his sentence, he will serve 338 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine. 

Purvis was given another year in jail but will serve the sentence concurrently. 

MORE COVERAGE:
Warning issued for fake k-9 cop by Dearborn Heights police
Man called fake k-9 officer says he feeds hungry in metro Detroit

Purvis was arraigned on April 5 on previous charges of impersonating a peace officer, a one-year misdemeanor and possession of flashing lights, a 90-day misdemeanor.  

On March 24, 2018 at approximately 6:30 p.m., it is alleged that Purvis was driving a black SUV with police-inspired decals on the car and wearing clothes resembling a police uniform.  

He allegedly used flashing lights to make a fake traffic stop of a woman driving her car at the Lodge Freeway near I-94. When the woman became suspicious of Purvis' car, she kept driving and immediately reported the incident to the police.  

Investigation by the Detroit Police Department resulted in the identification and charging of the defendant. 

A second instance of Purvis allegedly pulling someone over, allegedly happened to Joe Matney, a neighborhood activist, who was patrolling the Warrendale area. He allegedly pulled Matney over in January and claimed to be a police officer, but Matney did not report it to police.

"I turned around looking, you know, and all of a sudden the siren came on," Matney said. "I was like; we're getting pulled over."

Matney says the man claimed to be a cop, he knew something was wrong when he didn't know where they were.

"He comes out there and he's going did you know those lights are illegal here in Dearborn," Matney said. "I said well that's nice, I said I can have a Detroit police officer here right away because we are actually in Detroit right now."

Purvis told FOX 2 that he collects and buys food to distribute to the homeless. But he often dressed in what appeared to be k-9 or police outfits with the k-9 on it and drove an SUV with a k-9 logo on it.

As reports of him circulated, Dearborn Heights police issued an alert for him on its Facebook page. 

But Purvis said he was giving out food to people who need it most.

"We're funded, but financially I spend a lot of my own money," he said. "We have followers on Facebook who donate money and I have to work hard to do this stuff.

"If I did anything wrong - like I have been telling everybody - I would be sitting in jail right now if I was impersonating a police officer."