Crooks Posing as Police Caught with Help of Social Media
MINGO COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Men pretending to be cops find themselves behind bars, accused of terrorizing a family in their home.
Social media helped the real police catch the dangerous impersonators, and after weeks of restless nights, the family has some relief.
Many people are superstitious about Friday the 13th. In July, that day's bad connotations came true for Bonnie Chaffins’ family.
Bonnie says about 10:30 that night, two men wearing police uniforms armed with rifles came to her home along Marrowbone Creek Road near the Mingo-Wayne County line.
"They came in with a rifle, pointed it at me and my boyfriend, and told him to get on the floor," Bonnie’s daughter Reba Chaffin said.
They say it didn't take long to realize these weren't real cops.
"They kept asking for pills and money," Bonnie said.
Bonnie’s boyfriend Dennis Hunt says after being forced onto the floor, one of the cop impersonators took his money and pain medication from his pockets.
Before leaving, the two men told the family not to move, or they’d be shot.
Reba says later they figured out who the culprits were through Facebook.
She says a family friend looked up Arnold Lee Perry III’s Facebook page after hearing the description of the suspect, and the family identified him as one of the police impersonators.
The family says they immediately shared the tip with the Mingo County Sheriff’s Department, who later arrested Joshua Spalding and Perry and charged them with the crimes.
"I'm glad they caught them because I was scared to death they were going to come back," Bonnie said.
Local law enforcement have been investigating a string of thefts in the Marrowbone and Jennies Creek communities over the past month, and they say they strongly suspect these police imposters may be connected to some of those crimes.
The suspects were sent to the Southwestern Regional Jail.
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