Kentucky man charged with posing as officer, attacking woman

LONDON, Ky. – Authorities in Kentucky arrested a man accused of posing as a police officer, pulling a woman over along a rural road in Kentucky and attempting to rape her at knifepoint.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office charged 46-year-old Walter Earl Darling with attempted rape, impersonating a peace officer and related charges Monday. Darling was pretending to be law enforcement when he sped up behind the victim’s car on a highway near London in September, a statement from Sheriff John Root’s office said.

Darling turned on red and white flashing lights and made the woman pull onto a rural road before pulling into a hay field, deputies told news outlets. Darling is accused of then jumping into the back seat of her car with a large hunting knife and trying to attack her.

The woman escaped and drove herself to a hospital when Darling got out to make a phone call, according to the sheriff.