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CAMERON JAHN
Sacramento Bee





The men wore police-style uniforms with sharp creases and shoulder patches, and they drove up in police-style cars with flashing red and blue lights. One wore a gun in a holster, and another had a radio on his hip.

Since October, four women have reported being pulled over in Sacramento area traffic stops and sexually assaulted by a man posing as a cop.

Authorities investigating the sexual assaults hope to prevent additional women from being victimized by publicizing suspect descriptions and stepping up scrutiny of cars that look like police vehicles.

They hope to crack the cases in order to maintain the public's trust.

The women, all in their 20s, had no reason to doubt that they were being pulled over by legitimate law enforcement officers, but the men were imposters and the traffic stops were bogus, said Lt. Scott Jones, sheriff's spokesman.

"A predator gets this bright idea about how to further victimize someone and capitalizes on the trust we have in law enforcement with the public," he said. "We don't want to encourage people not to stop or give every cop the third degree, but we also don't want to get in a situation where people don't trust law enforcement."

Jones said that it is always OK to ask to see an officer's identification.

Part of the problem is that police equipment is easily available online - from the red and blue dashboard lights to the uniforms and utility belts worn by the men in the recent attacks.

Many police agencies also sell used cruisers, although the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department removes the spotlights, interior cages and computers that the recent victims spotted in their attackers' cars.

Police imposters are a troubling trend, said Elk Grove Police Chief Bob Simmons, because "the public expects a certain level of service from police officers."

"It tarnishes every badge-wearing person in the nation," he said.

Cases of criminals impersonating officers pop up from time to time but not in recent memory, Jones said.

The recent incidents - one in October and three this month - do not appear to be connected, but all targeted women, took place after dark and were committed by men who looked and acted like police officers, Jones said. The women were assaulted either in their own vehicles or their assailant's car, he said.

On Feb. 12 in Elk Grove, a man driving a black-and-white sedan with a round seal on the door pulled over a 28-year-old woman and told her to follow him to a residential area near Wooded Brook Drive and West Stockton Boulevard, where he sexually assaulted her.

Officers hardly ever ask motorists to follow them to another location during a traffic stop, Jones said.

The string of sexual assaults has prompted the California Highway Patrol to urge its officers to be patient with skittish motorists who are reluctant to pull over immediately.

"As long as person is acknowledging us, we won't consider it a pursuit," said CHP Officer Lizz Dutton. "If you are unsure and aren't near a well-lighted area, go to a business that is an AM/PM or something where people can see it. Don't pull over into a dark area."

Dutton also suggested that motorists call 911 while they are being pulled over to notify dispatchers that they intend to stop further up the road.

The Bee's Cameron Jahn can be reached at (916) 321-1038 or cjahn@sacbee.com. Bee staff writer Brian Joseph contributed to this report.

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