SEE PHOTOS OF COP IMPERSONATORS
CHICAGO (WBBM) - While Chicago cops try to track down three men who posed as police officers Sunday and threatened to rape a woman, a top department officials has some suggestions for those being stopped.
"Obviously we can't tell them not to stop for the police, but to pick an area they feel is safe," said Deputy Police Supt. Steve Peterson. "If you're stopped in a residential area where it's the middle of the night and the lighting is not that good, you can continue on to a main thoroughfare where there will be a lot of other cars that are out there that will see the actions taking place."
Sunday's incident did not occur at night. It occurred between 9:30 and 11 a.m. on busy Chicago Avenue, but Peterson said the impersonators told the woman to follow them into an alley.
The three men prompted the woman to pull over by flashing the headlights repeatedly on their Ford Crown Victoria, a type of car police commonly use. They told the woman she had the choice of jail or to follow them into a nearby alley. There they allegedly prompted her to get into the Crown Victoria and then threatened to rape her.
"They changed their mind, they got her out of the car and then they left," Peterson said.
Peterson described the men as follows:
The first man is between 20 and 30 years old, 5'11" tall, weighs about 170 pounds, and was last seen wearing a skull cap, black zip-up vest and black pants.
The second man is in his 20s, 5'7" tall, weighs about 180 pounds, has short black hair and a mustache and was last seen wearing a blue Starter-type jacket, and black jeans, and had a revolver.
The third man has curly medium length black hair, possibly gelled.
Peterson said Chicago Police have arrested eight people so far this year and charged them with impersonating an officer. In all of last year, Chicago Police arrested 24 people on impersonation charges. In 2007, the total was 20.
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