When an elderly Vancouver woman was brutally assaulted in her own home last month, the deadly attack would be the first of two disturbing crimes in less than two weeks allegedly perpetrated by suspects posing as police officers.
At the Feb. 18 police board meeting, the city’s top cop confirmed that the suspects in the home invasion homicide are accused of misrepresenting themselves in order to gain entry to 78-year-old Usha Singh’s home, after knocking on her front door just after 6 a.m. on Jan. 31.
“Two males that broke into that residence did have, were wearing gear to make them look like they were police officers,” Vancouver Police Department Chief Const. Adam Palmer said.
“It’s highly disturbing.”
Singh, who was left clinging to life after the vicious attack, died in hospital two days later — the same day police arrested two men.
Forty-one-year-old Pascal Bouthillette has since been charged with second-degree murder while his co-accused, 47-year-old Sandy Parisian, is charged with manslaughter.
“If somebody comes up to your door and identifies themselves as a policeman and they’re not wearing full uniforms, they don’t have a marked obvious police car, it’s concerning,” said Doug Spencer of Odd Squad Productions.
Spencer, a retired VPD officer and gang expert who now works to educate youth, said suspects have been posing as police officers for more than two decades -often in crimes linked to gangs.
“They want to get access to you,” Spencer told Global News.
“It does happen on occasion and usually it’s for serious crimes,” added Palmer.
Palmer said somebody jumped in a vehicle in East Vancouver on the evening of Feb. 10 while “impersonating a police officer,” but that the carjacking was thwarted.
The driver was stopped in traffic after leaving a grocery store near Clark Drive and East Hastings Street when police say a man hopped in the passenger side, claiming to be a cop.
Fortunately, police said the driver realized the man was not a VPD officer and was able to get out and flag down a real officer.
Thirty-four-year-old Cory Andrew Schaumleffel, who was the subject of a high-risk offender Canada-wide warrant in Nov. 2019, was arrested and has since been charged with robbery and falsely representing himself as a peace officer.
“The unfortunate thing is there’s ways to impersonate badges, there’s ways to do fake ID cards, there’s ways to get raid jackets,” said Palmer.
“So nothing is 100 per cent foolproof.”
With police tactical gear readily available online and in some army surplus stores, Spencer said anyone unsure if an officer is real or an imposter should call police or if they’re being pulled over, drive to a safe busy area.
“If they’re not police, they’re not going to get out and try and deal with you in front of a bunch of witnesses,” said Spencer.
If someone knocks at your door dressed as law enforcement, you can call police to verify an officer’s identity. Spencer also urges people to consider boosting home security with good locks and alarms for elderly family members living alone.
“You hit the panic alarm if something’s not right, the police are there – 911 emergency they show up,” said Spencer.
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