Where Police Impostors Go, Felonies Follow : Fraud: Officer impersonations are used to commit serious crimes ranging from robbery to rape and murder, authorities warn.

It was 9:20 p.m. when Rosa Garcia heard knocking on her door. When she peered out the peephole, she saw three men standing outside who appeared to be police officers. So she opened the door.

They flashed a badge. Garcia asked for a warrant, but they forced their way in and tied her up with duct tape. They were thieves looking for jewelry.

Police impersonations such as that, law-enforcement officials say, are crimes that often go unreported.

And recently, police have noticed that the likely targets are immigrants from Asia or Latin America. Police said immigrants are easy to target because they may not want to report the crimes to police or draw attention to themselves.

But anyone can be the target because it is an easy crime to commit, police said.

While few records are kept on the number of police impersonations, officials said criminals use them as a ruse to commit other crimes--from telephone fraud to rape and murder.

There are no regions in Orange County that are exempt from this type of crime. From San Clemente to La Palma, there have been police impersonations, officials said.

- The most common fraud is practiced over the telephone. Each year, local police agencies and telephone companies release warnings about phony police fund-raising groups.

In Orange, a woman called the Police Department and told them that she had bought tickets for a police-sponsored carnival. When the carnival was not set up, she called the police, only to find out from officers that they did not sponsor any such event. She also found out that the person from whom she had bought the tickets--over the phone--was not a member of the Police Department.

A similar incident occurred in Westminster, where a man succeeded in soliciting money from Vietnamese residents by telling them that state budget cuts could affect the city’s number of patrol cars, said Lt. Andrew Hall, a watch commander.

“People were willing to pay the money because that’s how it was done in Vietnam. It was consistent with their experiences in Vietnam,” he said.

- Another trick is to pose as a traffic officer and pull motorists over, officials said.

Santa Ana Police Lt. Bob Helton warns that it is remarkably simple for a criminal equipped with a hand-held spotlight to force a motorist to stop.

However, “if someone behind you turns red and blue lights on, you can bet it’s a law enforcement officer,” Helton said. “Only law enforcement is authorized to flash (red or blue lights) in this state.”

During the past decade there have been a string of serial rapes and murders connected to people posing as law enforcement officials.

A Whittier security guard was found guilty last year of assaulting numerous women on the freeways and streets.

The impostor, dressed in clothing similar to that of a police officer, followed his victims until he was sure they were alone. Then he would use a mounted white spotlight on his car to signal them to pull over, after which he would demand to see their driver’s license. He then would assault the women.

Possibly the most notorious crime committed by police impersonators took place in the Hillside Strangler case in Los Angeles during the late 1970s.

Kenneth A. Bianchi, a former security guard, was sentenced to five concurrent life terms for his part in the rape and murders of five Los Angeles-area women.

Prostitutes are a big target for police impostors, said Garden Grove crime analyst Nancy McFaul. They are victimized, she said, because they are knowledgeable about police tactics and do not wish to further aggravate their situation.

Lately, the most vulnerable are immigrants from Asian and Latin American countries.

McFaul recalled one incident in Garden Grove where a man in a uniform flashed a light into the eyes of a Latino driver and pulled him over.

“The uniformed man was wearing a Sam Brown (police) belt and was carrying a walkie-talkie in his hand. He showed a badge and asked for identification as he talked over the hand-held radio. He then demanded the driver’s keys and wallet and simply drove off in a station wagon,” McFaul said.

In another robbery, also in Garden Grove, a man driving a Mercedes-Benz displayed a badge during daytime to an Asian man in a parking lot and told him to open his trunk so he could search for counterfeit money. He then kidnaped the man in his car and dumped him in Anaheim after taking his money, McFaul said.

A more recent police-impostor ruse took place in Newport Beach where a man hosting a party was abducted by two men who claimed to be narcotics officers investigating one of the neighbors.

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said the victim was entertaining guests when two men arrived at his doorstep dressed in police uniforms. The impersonators took the victim about a mile from his home and released him after taking his watch.

And two years ago in La Habra, two Latinos posing as officers told one family that they were inquiring about a hit-and-run accident that took place earlier in the week.

“When we told them we didn’t know of any accidents, they forced their way into our house and handcuffed my husband,” Deborah Reynoso recalled. “I was just glad they didn’t shoot him.”

Reynoso said that even now her family, particularly the children, are terrified and try to block from their memory the invasion of their home.

“We’re moving out of here to northern Arizona as soon as someone buys our home,” she said. “I don’t want my children growing up in this type of environment, with gangs killing and all of this crime.”

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Melvin L. Jensen said police impersonation is a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of $1,000 and or up to six months in jail.

He said he cannot recall the last time an impostor was prosecuted.

A person impersonating a police officer usually does not commit the crime to “obtain a free doughnut,” Jensen said. Instead, he said, they end up being prosecuted for another more serious crime.

Lt. Greg Manuel said the California Highway Patrol has had one officer impersonation so far this year and two last year.

“Every time someone impersonates a police officer, it casts a shadow on all of us trying to do our job,” he said.

He and other officials insisted that there are many more police impersonators than are caught each year and that it is a strong possibility that they are tied to violent crimes.