(DEXTER, Mo., AP) — Police in the southeast Missouri town of Dexter are searching for a man who posed as police officer and assaulted a resident.

The Dexter Daily Statesman (http://bit.ly/TEss5U ) reports that 31-year-old Nicholas Griffin called police early Thursday. He said he was walking home from a bar when a white Ford Crown Victoria pulled alongside him, activated a light bar, and the driver yelled out for Griffin to stop.

When Griffin obliged, a man got out of the apparently fake police car and began punching him in the head. Griffin suffered several scratches.

Police checked and neighboring police agencies did not have squad cars in Dexter at the time.

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Information from: Dexter Daily Statesman, http://www.dailystatesman.com