Man Posing as Officer Kidnaps, Molests Girls

By Jorge Casuso

Oct. 31 -- Police are looking for a man posing as a law enforcement officer who molested two teenage girls after kidnapping them near Lincoln and Ocean Park boulevards at around 9:30 Thursday morning.

The suspect -- described as a male Hispanic between 30 and 40 years of age -- ordered the high school students to enter a black and white car with what appeared to be law enforcement markings and equipment, said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the police department spokesman.

The suspect then "drove to a residential neighborhood, where he searched their persons under their clothing," Fabrega said.

After about 20 minutes the suspect drove the victims back to the area were he had picked them up and released them, Fabrega said. The victims did not report being physically harmed, he said.

The suspect is described as having a medium build, black hair and "poor skin texture," Fabrega said. He was wearing a black bomber-style jacket, black pants and black boots.

Fabrega noted that the car does not fit the description of Santa Monica police vehicles, which are white with blue stripes.

"We want the community to know that is not one of our police cars," Fabrega said. "We are in the process of determining whether a genuine law enforcement vehicle was used in this crime."

Most LA law enforcement agencies drive black and white police cars, Fabrega said.

He added that Santa Monica has "a lot of movie filming that use prop police vehicles." But he said, "We're not jumping to conclusions."