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'Unsettling situation': Fake cop robs man at gunpoint in Florida

Police say the man was dressed as a police officer, told the victim he was under arrest
Ari Hait
Reporter
'Unsettling situation': Fake cop robs man at gunpoint in Florida

Police say the man was dressed as a police officer, told the victim he was under arrest

FELICIA: CHRIS, THANK YOU. NOW TO THE VID PEOORT ST. LUCIE POLICE NEED YOU TO SEE. THEY SAY IT SHOWS THE VEHIECL USED BY A MAN SUSPECTED IN AN ARMED HOME INVASION WHERE HE POSED AS A POLICE OFFICER. SHAYNE: OUR ARI HAIT SPOKE WITH A NEIGHBOR WHO WATCHED THE HOMEOWNER RUN FROM THE SUSPECT ARI: THIS HAPPENED IN THE 400 BLOCK OF SOUTHEAST ASBURY LANE. DETECTIVES BELVEIE THIS WAS A TARGETED ATTACK. THE PERSON KNEW HE WAS GOING AFTER. THEY WANT TO GET THIS GUY OFF THE STREET AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE HE TARGETS SOMEONE ELSE. IT WAS POSSIBLY THE LAST THING MARINA FRANCO EXPECTED TO SEE WHEN SHE STEPPED OUTSIDE OF HER PORT ST LUCIE HOME FRIDAY AFRNN.TE >> I SEE THIS MAN BAREFOOT. YELLING FOR HELP. ARI: THAT MAN WAS MARINA’S NEIGHBOR, AND THE PERSON WHO HAD HANDCUFFED HIM WAS DRESSED LIKE A P. THE NEIGHBOR BEGGED MARINA TO CALL 911. >> I WAS LIKE, WHY YOU WANT ME TO CALL 911? YOU ARE THE POLICE. SAYS, NO, THIS IS OF FAKE COP. ARI: HE PARKED AROU TND VICTIM’S HOUSE AROUND 4:30 P.M.. HE APPROACHED THE VICTIM AND SAID HE HAD A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST. HE HANDCUFFED THE VICTIM, TURN THE POWER OFF, AND WALKED HIM INSIDE THE RESIDENCE AND TOLD HIM HE WAS NOT A POLICE OFFICER AND WAS THE TREO ROB HIM. I:AR THE SUSPECT CALLED THE VICTIMY B NAME AND STARTED TO SEARCH THE HOUSE. >> HE TOOK THE OPPORNITUTY KNOWING THE FRONT DOOR WAS UNLOCKED TO GET OUT. HE WAS HANUFDCFED BEHIND HIS BACK. ARI: THAT’S WHEN MARINA FRANCO SA W HIM. >> IT SUCKS. HEEP K SAYING WE NEVER HAD A GUN TO MY HEAD. ARI: TUESDAY, POLICE RELEASED THIS VIDEO FROM A NEARBY SECURITY CAMERA, THEY SAY THAT BLACK GMC ACADIA IS THE SUSPECT’S R.CA HE’S DESCBERID AS A WHITE MALE AROUND 5-10, NEARLY 300 POUNDS. HE GOT AWAY WITH A HANDG, BBUN GUN, AND A SMALL SAFE. IT’S UNSETTLING FOR THE NEIGHBORODHOND A OUR COMMUNITY, KNOWING SOMEBODY IS POSING AS A POLICE OICFFER AND ROBBING THEM AT DUNG POINT -- GUNPOINT. I: CHECK YOUR CAMERAS BETWEEN 4 P.M. AND 5 P
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'Unsettling situation': Fake cop robs man at gunpoint in Florida

Police say the man was dressed as a police officer, told the victim he was under arrest
Ari Hait
Reporter
It was the last thing Marina Franco expected to see when she stepped outside of her Port St. Lucie, Florida, home Friday afternoon.“I see this man barefoot, handcuffed on the back of his body, yelling for help,” she said.The man turned out to be Franco’s neighbor.The person who had handcuffed him was dressed like a police officer.The neighbor begged Franco to call 911.“I was like, ‘Why do you want me to call 911? You’re running away from the police,’” Franco said. “And he was like, ‘No, no. This was a fake cop!’”Police have not released that neighbor’s name.Investigators said the fake cop parked in front of his home around 4:30 p.m. Friday.He was dressed like a police officer and even had a badge.The victim told police the man approached him in his garage and said he had a warrant for his arrest.“He handcuffed the victim, shut the garage door, turned the power off to the residence, walked him inside the residence,” said Port St. Lucie assistant police chief Richard Del Toro. “And which point he told him he was not in fact a police officer and that he was there to rob him.”Del Toro said the suspect called the victim by name, but it’s not clear what relationship, if any, the two have with each other.The suspect left the victim and started searching the home.“At that time, the victim took the opportunity knowing that the front door was unlocked to get out of the residence even though he was handcuffed behind his back,” Del Toro said.And that’s when Franco saw her neighbor, running and screaming for help.“It was sad. It was sad to see him like that,” Franco said. “And he kept saying, ‘I never had a gun to my head before.’”Tuesday, police released security video from a nearby home that shows a black GMC Acadia driving away from the scene.Police believe that’s the suspect’s vehicle.The suspect is described as a white male, around 5’10” and nearly 300 pounds.He was wearing a mask so his facial features are unknown.Police said he got away with a handgun, a BB gun, and a small safe. “It’s just an unsettling situation for the neighborhood out there, for our community, knowing someone’s going around posing as a police officer and robbing them at gunpoint,” Del Toro said.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. —

It was the last thing Marina Franco expected to see when she stepped outside of her Port St. Lucie, Florida, home Friday afternoon.

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“I see this man barefoot, handcuffed on the back of his body, yelling for help,” she said.

The man turned out to be Franco’s neighbor.

The person who had handcuffed him was dressed like a police officer.

The neighbor begged Franco to call 911.

“I was like, ‘Why do you want me to call 911? You’re running away from the police,’” Franco said. “And he was like, ‘No, no. This was a fake cop!’”

Police have not released that neighbor’s name.

Investigators said the fake cop parked in front of his home around 4:30 p.m. Friday.

He was dressed like a police officer and even had a badge.

The victim told police the man approached him in his garage and said he had a warrant for his arrest.

“He handcuffed the victim, shut the garage door, turned the power off to the residence, walked him inside the residence,” said Port St. Lucie assistant police chief Richard Del Toro. “And which point he told him he was not in fact a police officer and that he was there to rob him.”

Del Toro said the suspect called the victim by name, but it’s not clear what relationship, if any, the two have with each other.

The suspect left the victim and started searching the home.

“At that time, the victim took the opportunity knowing that the front door was unlocked to get out of the residence even though he was handcuffed behind his back,” Del Toro said.

And that’s when Franco saw her neighbor, running and screaming for help.

“It was sad. It was sad to see him like that,” Franco said. “And he kept saying, ‘I never had a gun to my head before.’”

Tuesday, police released security video from a nearby home that shows a black GMC Acadia driving away from the scene.

Police believe that’s the suspect’s vehicle.

The suspect is described as a white male, around 5’10” and nearly 300 pounds.

He was wearing a mask so his facial features are unknown.

Police said he got away with a handgun, a BB gun, and a small safe.

“It’s just an unsettling situation for the neighborhood out there, for our community, knowing someone’s going around posing as a police officer and robbing them at gunpoint,” Del Toro said.