A Man Identifies Himself as an Officer, then Rapes a Woman
Published April 26th, 2012
The victim says two men walked up to her. One kept going, the other raped her.
Police think they may know each other since they were walking together.
Now they are encouraging this man to come forward.
"It makes me feel unsafe, of course," said Jennifer Leaveck.
Leaveck works close to where the rape took place.
She has been here over a year and hasn't seen anything like this before.
"Sometimes I'm inside of apartments where I am vulnerable. So I will have to keep the doors closed."
Last night at around 9:00 a.m., a woman wandered into the woods near SW 24th avenue after fighting with her boyfriend.
"She said she was approached by two white males. One of which walked off, the second in which identified himself as a police officer and said he was going to detain her," said Sgt. John Nabet.
The women said "no" and then she fought with the man for sometime before he was able to zip tie her fingers together to hold her down. She said the man sexually battered her for up to three hours.
"He had walked away from the scene. At that point in time she had walked back to her apartment and called the police," said Nabet.
She wasn't able to call the police until about 4 a-m.
According to police, the victim is not facing life threatening injuries.
According to police, the victim is not facing life threatening injuries.
The man is described as a white male in his late thirties or early forties, about six feet tall, thin and has a mullet hair cut.
Nabet said they have no evidence that the other man who walked away was involved, but he might know something.
"We would guess that if they are walking together in a place of the beaten trail and a path through the woods, that they would be acquaintances of some sort. we at this point do not know what their relationship is," said Nabet.
Police interviewed the victim before because this isn't the first time she was seen hanging out in these woods.
Officers said that's not recommended.
"As you can see behind me the location of the crime scene is very much off the beaten path and it's something that if your in a situation out here, no one can witness it, no one can hear your cries for help," said Officer Ben Tobias.
Leaveck said she will no longer leave the doors unlocked.
"It makes me more aware of my surroundings," said Leaveck.
If you have any information about this crime call crime stoppers at 372-stop.
By: Yaremi Farinas
