Crime

Maryland officer wears homeless disguise to catch texting drivers

/ AP

BETHESDA, Md. -- A Maryland police officer disguised himself as a homeless man to catch people using their phones while driving.

Cpl. Patrick Robinson went undercover Tuesday morning equipped with a police radio and a body camera. He held a sign that read: "I am not homeless. I am a Montgomery County police officer looking for cell phone texting violations."

Montgomery County police Sgt. Phillip Chapin and about eight other officers issued a total of 56 tickets county-wide that day, including 31 tickets and 9 warnings to people caught using their phones without hands-free devices. Chapin says authorities are seeing more distracted-driver-related deaths as a result of people using their phones while driving.

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