Kidnapper posed as cop

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and assaulted by a man posing as a police officer, RCMP said Monday.

Sgt. Pat Webb of Calgary RCMP said the girl was taken by the man dressed in a police uniform and his car was complete with flashing blue-and-red lights on his vehicle.

Webb said the man is charged with kidnapping while using a firearm, aggravated sexual assault, impersonating a police officer and uttering a threat.

The girl, who can’t be named because she is the victim of an alleged sexual assault, was allegedly taken late Thursday just metres from her Penhold home.

She had just come back from a trip to a nearby convenience store and was clad in a trench coat and pyjamas. Her purse, truck keys and items she bought were still in the vehicle which still had its lights on.

Webb said the man’s vehicle had lights similar to those used by police as well as clothing that looked like a uniform. He’s also alleged to have had a gun.

The girl, who allegedly escaped from her captor, called her parents from the Red Deer Bower Place Shopping Centre around 8:30 p.m.

The suspect was arrested about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday while driving in Red Deer.

He said the alleged police clothing isn’t specific to any one police force.

Webb said police are “greatly concerned” about the manner in which the girl is alleged to have been abducted.

“It’s a great concern to us because we normally work with the trust of the public.”

“To have this type of impersonation occur, which is usually minor in effect, is a grave concern.”

Webb said impersonation incidents are rare but can happen.”

He said any time a person is concerned about a police officer they should stay in a locked residence or a locked vehicle and ask to be shown document identification, a badge and photo ID.

He said if a person still isn’t satisfied they should call 911 and talk to the dispatcher to confirm it’s a police officer.

School administration and the RCMP extended a supportive hand to local students on Monday after a suspect was arrested.

Jackie Taylor, principal of Penhold School, said students were shaken by the incident because it happened in their community.

“All of them pretty much know (the victim) so there’s some elevated fears, because it comes too close to home. We always tell them to be prepared but until it really happens to someone you know, it doesn’t quite sink in. Students felt some of the scariness of the world today,” she said.

The town’s Family School Wellness team made class-to-class visits at the kindergarten to Grade 9 school on Monday, reassuring students that a suspect had been apprehended and offering counselling and support for anyone affected by the incident.

“We also had an RCMP liaison officer who stopped in. We don’t know anything more than is out there, but he wanted to reinforce with us that this is random incident,” said Taylor.

At the high school the girl attends, administration announced her safe return to students on Monday morning.

“Administration was in classrooms today making sure students understood what had happened. Staff from intervention services were involved and counselling staff have been made aware and we have the capacity to provide counselling services in that school and others,” said Pieter Langstraat, deputy superintendent of the Red Deer Public School District.

“We feel for the family and have offered any support we can provide to them. We’re still disturbed about the charges and what may have happened, but we all think it’s fantastic she’s safe,” he said.

Like Taylor, Penhold Mayor Julia King stressed that incidents like this aren’t common in the quiet town of 2,000.

“We feel we do have a safe community. An incident like this has never happened in the years I’ve lived here,” she said.

King said she’s spoken to Innisfail RCMP to determine whether increased safety measures are necessary. The town’s only peace officer is out on sick leave, but King said it’s impossible to say whether having a police presence in town would have made a difference.

“That’s the question I posed, would us having our peace officer here at the moment prevented it and could it have? Maybe, but they would have had to be in that area at the exact time. This perpetrator, if they’d seen the vehicle, would that have changed their mind? We don’t have that crystal ball to say,” she said.

King urged anyone struggling to cope with the incident to contact Penhold’s community services division. Like so many other friends, family and Facebookers, she expressed intense relief that the girl escaped and an arrest was made.

“I know there will be some times of emotional distress, for sure there will be some healing. We want her to know that this community is behind her and the family and we are so glad she’s back.”

Gerard John Baumgarte, 56, of Red Deer may make his first court appearance Wednesday or Thursday in Red Deer provincial court, Webb said.

“He’ll be going up in front of a JP (justice of the peace) tomorrow (today) who will set the date,” Webb said.

Contact Paige Aarhus at paarhus@reddeeradvocate.com

Contact Jack Wilson at jwilson@reddeeradvocate.com