Man Impersonating Policeman Frightens Student Off Campus

Fredericksburg police received a call Monday night at 11:30 p.m. that a male identifying himself as a police officer approached a UMW student at the corner of Charlotte and Spottswood streets as she was walking home from her car.

As she was arriving at her residence, the student noticed the suspect leaning against a street sign, according to Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department.

After the student parked her car, the suspect began walking toward her with his hands up and extended, Bledsoe said.  He held out his wallet as if he was showing her his badge, stating that he was with the police.

Bledsoe said the 20-year-old student continued to refuse to stop for the suspect and walked toward her house.

“She did everything right,” Bledsoe said.  “She never stopped. She never got close enough to him for him to grab her, if that’s what his intentions were.”

As the student reached her house, the suspect asked her if someone could verify her identity, to which the student said, “Yeah, my roommate,” according to Bledsoe.

Bledsoe said the suspect wanted to come inside, but the student locked her door and proceeded to call the police.  The suspect was gone from the scene when the police arrived.

While the police have not identified the suspect, Bledsoe said the case has been assigned to a detective.  The suspect has been described as a black male in his 30s and clean-shaven with a short haircut, a white shirt and jeans.

“Obviously this is a concern,” Bledsoe said.  “At this point, we don’t have a detailed enough description of him to relate it to anything else.  It doesn’t appear that she was approached or victimized because she is a student.”

Photo: The intersection of Spottswood and Charlotte streets, where a student was approached by a man who was impersonating a police officer. Anne Elder/Bullet