A South Florida man pretended to be a police officer so he could threaten women with jail time if they didn’t have sex with him, police said.
22-year-old Mark William Rose has been charged with impersonating a police officer in the commission of a felony and false imprisonment after allegedly posing as an officer and threatening women with arrest if they did not agree to have sex with him.
Rose, who is from Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, told arresting officers that he had used this ploy about a dozen times in the last few months with three of the women conceding to sex.
According to the New York Daily News, Rose was arrested after a prostitute reported his activities to the authorities.
Broward County, Florida Sheriff’s deputies said that Rose picked up a prostitute on Wednesday, when she refused to have unprotected sex with him, he told her he was a cop and would arrest her. He then drove her to the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters to add credence to his claim.
“I’m a police officer, and you are under arrest,” deputies say he told her. “You are going to jail. You’re going to jail tonight.”
According to the arresting documents, the woman didn’t believe him, and she later called the real cops.
At his first-appearance hearing Thursday, Broward County Judge John “Jay” Hurley set bond for Rose at $10,000 and ordered that Rose wear a GPS electronic monitor.
Judge Hurley said, “This is an ongoing criminal activity of a pretty serious nature.” Hurley also added that “The whole thing is very, very concerning.”
Michael D. Weinstein, the attorney representing Rose, disputed the false imprisonment charge: “That’s a ruse, but it’s not forcibly or by threat confining her.” He also said, “This is not the first time a man has lied to a woman to have sex.”
Weinstein also said that the woman didn’t have to believe his client. “He showed no identification, he was in an unmarked unit, he was not wearing a police shirt, wasn’t wearing a police badge, and had no gun allegedly. He said: ‘I’m a cop.'”
Prosecutor Eric Linder countered Weinstein’s argument and said, “He took her to the front door.” He also added that “It’s one thing to lie, but this is a lot more than a lie, this is a threat, he’s threatening women’s personal freedom.”
Rose has no criminal record; his father said he had no idea this was happening and would get his son help.
