Suspect may be targeting girls
Friday, September 26, 2008
David Rupkalvis


By David Rupkalvis
editor@grahamleader.com



A Graham teenager got the scare of her life Saturday when she was pulled over by a man claiming to be a sheriff’s deputy.
While the girl escaped unharmed, Sheriff Bryan Walls said impersonating an officer is no joke, and he was determined to locate the man before someone did get hurt.
Walls said a 16-year-old girl was driving from Graham to Newcastle on Highway 380 at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. After she passed Kindley Park, a vehicle came up on her at a high rate of speed. After following the girl for a short while, the girl noticed red and blue flashing lights on the vehicle and pulled over to the side of the road.
“I really think this guy was hidden up in Kindley Park, and when he got behind her, he saw writing on her windows,” Walls said. “He pulled her over because she looked like a high school girl.”
The girl reported a white man approached her car carrying a black flashlight. The man was wearing a navy blue uniform with no patches or identification on it. The man asked the girl if she was going to a party in Newcastle, and the girl told him she was heading to her grandparents’ home. The man then asked her to exit the vehicle which she did.


After telling the girl to stand at the rear of the vehicle, the man searched the car and allowed the girl to leave.
Walls said while standing outside the car, the girl got a good look at the suspect’s vehicle. She said it was likely a white Ford Crown Victoria with a bush bumper and a black wrap-around grill protector. It had a single red flashing light on the top and said “sheriff” in red lettering on the side. The girl said there was also a red and blue light in the bumper.
“I think it’s a magnetic sign,” Walls said. “He was wearing a blue uniform with no patches. He had no gun or anything. He never asked for a driver’s license, he never asked her name. He just got her out and started searching.”
Walls said the sheriff’s office is looking for the man because he impersonated an officer. But the sheriff also said, he was worried the man might have had worse intentions.
“This girl is terrified now,” Walls said. “She realizes how close she came. That’s how we find cars abandoned on the side on the road with no one in them.”
Walls said the wife of one of his deputies saw a similar car with the red sheriff’s lettering this week near Graford,20so he is concerned the man is moving around looking for victims.
The suspect is described as an older white male, possibly in his 50s, with brown hair and wrinkles. He was wearing a white or silver cowboy hat when he stopped the girl. Although it is not known where the suspect is from, Walls said he knew about a specific party in Newcastle and therefore may have local ties.
Walls said until the suspect is caught, parents need to make sure their children are safe. He said anytime a vehicle is pulled over, there are ways to make sure it is a legitimate officer.
“All the police cars in the county have light bars that are very bright,” Walls said. “If you see just one little red light, I would keep driving and call 9-1-1 and see if it’s real. Just about everything running traffic will also have complete striping. There won’t be just one word.”
Walls also said the sheriff’s office does not use Crown Victorias for traffic work. Any legitimate traffic stop involving a sheriff’s deputy will involve a pickup truck or an SUV.
With the report of a police impersonator, Walls said as a father, he was planning to make sure his children knew what to look for before they went out on their own.
“It almost makes you say you need to travel together in groups until we figure out what is happening,” Walls said.