Man accused of pretending to be police officer, raping woman

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Maryland man is accused of pretending to be a police officer and then raping a woman he met online.

Michael Crutchfield II, 23, has been arrested on charges including first- and second-degree rape and perverted practice, news outlets report. Prince George’s County police said Thursday that officers responded to a D.C. hospital on Christmas Eve for a reported sexual assault that happened earlier in their county.

Investigators learned the woman and Crutchfield had met on a dating app and arranged for him to pick her up from her home. He then drove her to a parking garage in Temple Hills where he falsely identified himself as a police officer, threatened her with a gun and assaulted her, police said. He then drove the woman home and was later arrested at his own home, according to authorities.

Crutchfield is not a police officer, but he didn’t recently work as a security officer for a company in D.C., police said.

Authorities are asking for anyone who may have had similar interactions with Crutchfield to contact the department’s sexual assault unit.

It’s unclear if Crutchfield has a lawyer.