A female juvenile told Marshall County deputies last week she was pulled over by a Hispanic male wearing a fake police badge while traveling south on W.Va. Route 2, according to Marshall County Sheriff Bill Helms.She reported the man was driving a white, four-door sedan with Florida plates with a red, bubble light on his front dashboard when he pulled her over at 12:30 p.m. on December 1 in an area near Benwood. After the man claimed she was traveling at an excessive speed, he asked her age. The juvenile female told the deputies that is when she closed her window, picked up her phone, and then drove away.“She described the vehicle as a white unmarked car that was a four-door sedan with very dark windows,” Helms said Tuesday on River Talk 100.1 FM. “She said she doesn’t think it was a (Ford) Crown Victoria because she knows what those look like. She said she also saw the red bubble light on the front dash, so she pulled over.“She was then approached by a Hispanic male who was between 35 and 40 years old and had a strong, Hispanic accent,” he said. “She told our deputies that the man was wearing dark blue jeans, black button-up shirt, and a fake police badge around his neck. She also noticed the male did not have a firearm on his hip.”The juvenile female told deputies the stop took place on the highway near the city of Benwood.Helms said the sheriff’s office has received reports of individuals impersonating law enforcement on local roads in the past, but this incident seems more sinister.“We have had incidents before with someone trying to pass themselves off as law enforcement out in rural areas of the county, but I’ve never seen anything like this on Route 2,” Helms insisted. “I’d only be speculating when saying this incident could be connected to human trafficking, but it kind of feels like it. There’s something not right about all of this.“It’s a pretty gutsy move to attempt something like that along that stretch of Route 2 because each of those communities has officers that patrol that highway,” he explained. “But, and this pure speculation, if you take someone and they’re not familiar with this area, that stretch of road probably looks pretty country to them.”All local law enforcement agencies have been notified of the report and the description of the Hispanic male and his vehicle, and Helms is hopeful the individual will be located soon.“Our deputies will be following up on everything we know now and I’m sure everyone will keep their eyes open for a vehicle that fits the description. If we get a report, we’ll be responding immediately so we can figure out what took place with the young lady on December 1,” the sheriff said. “Maybe some folks around here don’t realize how serious human trafficking is in the country right now, but we know the activity does come through this valley.“If something is operating in this area, that’s something we need to figure out immediately,” Helms added. “No matter what, we know the individual is not a member of law enforcement, and that’s serious enough.”
