By Jenny Michael
Bismarck Tribune
Mandan police are investigating several recent reports of people impersonating officers.
Detective Jon Vanderhoef said a woman reported that a man came to her door on Jan. 17 claiming to be a detective searching for a rapist in the area. While talking to her, a man wearing a dark-colored police uniform stood next to the man claiming to be a detective. The men also asked her about her daily habits, such as when she gets home, Vanderhoef said.
However, Mandan did not have any officers in that location investigating a rape, Vanderhoef said.
“They were not police officers,” he said.
The woman described the man claiming to be a detective as broad shouldered with brown hair, Vanderhoef said. She said the man quickly displayed a flip-open badge and was wearing a black jacket and black dress slacks with a dress shirt, Vanderhoef said.
The woman said the man in the uniform was thin, and there was a badge on his uniform, Vanderhoef said.
Both men were white, clean shaven and appeared to be around 30 years old, he said the woman told him.
Vanderhoef did not wish to comment on whether the pretend officers could be connected to a report of a woman going to businesses in northwest Mandan on Jan. 15 pretending to be either a police officer or an employee of the state crime lab.
Officers have a suspect in that case, but no charges have been filed.
Police say people should contact law enforcement agencies if they have doubts that someone is a police officer. A dispatcher will know if an officer is at a certain location.
Vanderhoef said anyone with information about the incidents and anyone who has been approached by someone claiming to be an officer matching the description of the men should call the Mandan Police Department at 667-3455.