Video shows brazen attack by fake cops

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Story Published: Nov 4, 2009 at 8:43 AM PST

By KOMO Staff

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TACOMA, Wash. -- Police here have released video of a brazen attack on a restaurant employee and her son by men impersonating cops last month.

The employee and her son had just left a Burger King restaurant in Graham, Wash., in the predawn hours of Oct. 25. The video shows the victims driving a silver Mustang getting pulled over by an SUV with flashing red and blue lights just as they were about to pull into the gated area of their housing development.

Detectives believe these men are connected to three other similar attacks across Pierce County over the past month.

The most recent case was Sunday, only this time, police say they elevated their crimes to rape.

A Lakewood Wendy's Restaurant employee was on her way home from work around 2:20 a.m. Sunday when she was pulled over by a vehicle with red-and-blue flashing lights, said Lauren Wallin with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office's CrimeStoppers program.

Two armed robbers handcuffed her boyfriend and placed him in the trunk of his car, then demanded her keys to the restaurant.

The woman didn't have keys to the restaurant, and after realizing this, the robbers took the victim into a fenced, wooded area in the 1900 block of E. 56th Street in Tacoma and raped her, Wallin said.

Tuesday, police circulated a flyer to all police agencies and fast food restaurants in the area, warning employees that if they are being pulled over by an unmarked police car, to call 911 and ask dispatchers if a police officer is really attempting to pull them over, and to send a fully marked car to their location.

The men have used vehicles described as a dark, newer SUV and an older black Honda with tinted windows, with red-and-blue lights on the dashboard.

During the robberies, the pair have been wearing dark hooded sweatshirts, dark hats, bandannas and gloves, and have been armed with handguns.

The kidnappings and robberies are being investigated by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, Lakewood Police and Tacoma Police.

A reward of $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and charges filed for the robbers in this case. To contact police, call 253) 591-5959. All callers will remain anonymous.

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