Baltimore Police: Hospital guard posed as officer in rape

Baltimore police believe they’ve solved a rape case that had investigators pull more than 100 police cars off the streets to search for evidence.

A woman alleged that a uniformed officer ordered her into a patrol car and later raped her. Commissioner Michael Harrison announced Tuesday night that an exhaustive investigation led them instead to arrest a security guard for a hospital trauma centre on charges of rape and impersonating a police officer.

The Baltimore Sun reports that police say 50-year-old Richard Barnes identified himself as a police officer when he stopped the victim’s vehicle on June 1 and ordered the woman into his car.

Police say he was wearing his security guard uniform at the time. Investigators ultimately confirmed it was Barnes’ personal vehicle, and not a squad car.