Man Accused as Police Impostor in Sexual Ruses

A nightclub bouncer was arrested Tuesday for allegedly posing as a police officer and luring teen-age girls into his car, driving them to a secluded area where he molested some of them.

Eric Gumieney, 29, was booked on suspicion of impersonating an officer and kidnaping after he went to the police station at the request of detectives, Sgt. Dan Hernandez said.

Investigators believe he is the man who, since August, has approached at least 13 young women in his car, telling them he was a police officer investigating their involvement in a narcotics case.

Eight of the girls, ranging in age from 13 to 19, believed the ruse and were handcuffed and driven to a secluded area where three were molested, Hernandez said.

Five of the girls walked away when the man was unable to produce police identification, he said. On other occasions, however, the man produced a badge.

Gumieney, who works as a bouncer at a local bar called “The Market,” came under suspicion Saturday when officers saw him behind the wheel of his maroon Mercury Monarch that matched the description of the car used in a kidnaping, Hernandez said.

“He was very cooperative throughout the investigation and came across as very articulate and in a manner that would lead one to believe he was a police officer,” Hernandez said.

After detectives contacted Gumieney on Monday, he voluntarily went to the police station for questioning and was later released. On Tuesday, he complied with a request for another interview and was arrested after several of Gumieney’s alleged victims picked his picture out of a photo lineup, Hernandez said.