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PROVO -- A Provo woman is alleging she was intimidated by a man who said he was a police officer and had a uniform, handcuffs and an air soft gun. The man is now in jail facing charges of kidnapping, forcible sexual assault and impersonating an officer.
Jose Baray approached the woman at the Executive Inn & Suites motel on University Avenue in Provo on July 16. His story was that the motel was being raided for drugs and that he was an officer.
Baray is accused of forcing the Provo woman to drive him to a convenience store just to the north. They later returned to the motel, where inside the room Baray demanded she consent to a strip-search, according to the woman.
"Here, she is seeing a uniform and a badge and a gun. Normally when you encounter that, you are going to obey them as a police officer," said Capt. Jerry Harper with the Provo Police Department.
"He made the accusations she had drugs on her, she told him she didn't. He said he needed to search her and told her to strip."
Police are not alleging any physical contact took place, but that the woman was forced to spend the night in the motel room. The next day, Baray told the woman she needed to become an informant and buy drugs at a convenience store in Lehi.
Lehi officers responded on a report of suspicious activity and the woman was rescued.
"She was scared to death during this encounter and she is very traumatized by the situation," Harper said.
Police are now investigating how Baray was able to get the police items that allowed him to victimize the woman.
"I'm glad she's okay. Just very glad it turned out the way it did. It could have been a lot worse," Harper said.
It turns out the gun police recovered was an air soft gun, but it did appear real to the victim. Police say if you are ever concerned that an officer isn't legitimate, ask for a backup officer to respond.
