Erik Estrada played Ponch in the 1970's TV series CHiPs (California Highway Patrol) becomes a REAL COP!

Erik Estrada as Ponch in CHiPs, right, and as a real reserve cop, left

 Erik Estrada found fame playing Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello from 1977 to 1983 in the hit series about Californian highway patrol officers.

In a case of life imitating art, the actor has now become a reserve police officer for the St Anthony Police Department in Idaho in the US at the age of 67, after mayor Neils Thueson swore him in on Saturday.

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