Authorities warn about police impostors after woman says she was sexually assaulted
A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted last Monday by a man posing as a police officer.
The impostor used a flashing red “bubble light” attached to the roof of the black Dodge Charger that he was driving, Sgt. Chris Britt said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
“That would be a giveaway,” Britt said. “No one on the Fort Worth force uses those. Anyone seeing something like that should give us a call.”
The woman was driving her maroon Dodge pickup northbound on Loop 820 near Team Ranch Road in west Fort Worth about 8:15 p.m. on Feb. 18 when she noticed a black Dodge Charger directly behind her, she told an officer.
The Charger had a white spotlight mounted on the driver’s side door, and a red flashing light attached to its roof, and the woman believed she was being pulled over by a police officer, she said.
Britt said at the news conference that there are things that a motorist can do to lessen the risk of being victimized by someone impersonating an officer.
“If you are unsure that you are being stopped by an officer, you should slow down and acknowledge the officer’s presence, and you can call 911 and ask ‘if I’m being stopped,’ ” Britt said.
Britt said police work hard to build trust in the community and it is disheartening to see that trust being eroded by an impostor. Britt also suggested that people pull over in well-lit areas. The area where the sexual assault took place was dark, he said.
The woman who was sexually assaulted pulled over onto the northbound shoulder at the Team Ranch Road exit and the Charger stopped behind her. A man got out and walked toward the victim, police reported. The suspect told the victim to get out of her truck and walk over to the passenger side of the Charger, police said.
Then the suspect sexually assaulted her, she told police. The man is about 6 feet with a stocky build. He wore a dark-colored jacket and dark-colored “jogger-style” pants tucked into white high-top Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers. He has a Southern accent, the victim told officers.
His car was described as a black four-door Dodge Charger with tinted windows, tinted “black-out style” rear tail light covers, black rims on its wheels, and a rear-end Texas license plate. The Charger has a “police style” white spotlight connected to the front driver’s side.
Investigators have not been able to determine the year model of the Charger and the victim could not tell the race of her attacker, according to Britt. The victim did report that she was threatened and that there were indications that the suspect had a weapon, Britt said.
Police have not revealed the exact nature of the threats nor have they discussed details about the sexual assault. The woman drove to another location afterward and called police, Britt said.
When asked for information about the victim, Britt declined to comment, saying he did not have any information about her, and that included her age and place of residence.
This incident bears no connection to any other crime committed in Fort Worth, he said. Investigators are reaching out to officers in other jurisdictions in their search for clues, he said.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call 817-469-8477.
This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Authorities warn about police impostors after woman says she was sexually assaulted."
