Sheriff’s office investigating report of imposter cop who groped woman

Published 10:17 am Wednesday, March 28, 2012

BURLINGTON— The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man who, posing as a police officer, allegedly groped a female motorist Thursday.

According to Sgt. Randy Goodall’s report the woman was traveling on Burlington-Macedonia Road at approximately 4:38 p.m. when she encountered what she thought was an unmarked police car.

“When atop the hill, she observed a vehicle behind her that had a red and white strobe light activated on the dash board. She then pulled over and stopped her vehicle,” Goodall said in his report. The woman told Goodall the man, “approached her vehicle and told her to get out of her car.”

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She stated that she was attempting to obtain her vehicle information when the suspect told her again to exit the vehicle. She questioned him asking him if he wished to see her identification when he stated no.

As she exited the vehicle, he told her to place her hands on top of her vehicle and asked her if she had anything on her that would “stick” him. In replying ‘no’ he proceeded to ‘frisk’ her. It was at this point that she requested to see his badge, which he did not produce. She advised that the suspect was not wearing any type of a uniform.”

Goodall said in his report the man pulled the woman toward him and began to run his hands over her body.

The woman, who was wearing cheerleader-style shorts and a top, alleged the man even went so far as to put his hands on private parts of her body; he allegedly grabbed her breasts and squeezed them with his hands underneath her top.

The woman began to scream at the man, demanding his police ID, at which time he allegedly cursed her and told her to shut up. The man fled when another car came into the area.

“…the victim heard a vehicle driving up the hill towards her location the report states. According to the victim, it was then that the suspect began to walk back to his vehicle while at the same time, he made the statement; “Shut up, I can’t take the yelling,’” Goodall said in his report.

The victim told Goodall the man did not follow her.

The victim told authorities the man is a white male, approximately 6 feet-2, 240 pounds and in his mid-30s.

The man has short medium brown hair, but not a crew cut. He had no facial hair or glasses. He has blue eyes and freckles on his arms.

“She advised that there was what appeared to be a burn type scar between his left index finger and thumb, approximately the size of a 50 cent piece,” Goodall said in his report. “She stated that he was wearing a bluish green polo shirt with no markings with the exception of a small logo type insignia on his left breast. He was wearing khaki colored dress pants with pleats. She stated that he had on flat black dress-type shoes. The only item that he had on his dress belt was what appeared to be an iPhone hanging on his right side.”

The victim told authorities she only observed the suspect vehicle from the front and said it was either dark blue or black older model, possibly mid 1990’s, Crown Victoria. The victim said

the hood of the car was discolored as if the paint had either bubbled or the clear coating had peeled away.

There was no front license plate. She stated that there was a mint colored green sticker located on the left side of the windshield resembling a West Virginia vehicle inspection sticker. The only emergency lights she observed were the red and white strobe light that was sitting on top of the dash. The only antenna that she observed was what appeared to be a standard am /fm radio antenna, Goodall said in his report.

Sheriff Jeff Lawless said women should exercise caution when an unmarked police car tries to pull them over.

“The unmarked car could be legit,” Lawless said. “But officers (in unmarked cars) will not stop cars for traffic offenses, per se.”

He said if an unmarked police car approaches someone, she should call the local law enforcement agency and ask if one of its officers is trying to pull her over. If she is in an out-of-the-way place, the motorist should drive to a well-lit, well-populated place before stopping the car.