OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – A couple is targeting Kissimmee residents by impersonating police officers to gain access to their homes, officials with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said on Dec. 19 a man and a woman knocked on the door of a Osceola Point Apartments unit and said they were "police." When the resident opened the door, she was grabbed by the man, thrown to the floor and sprayed with a chemical agent. The victim was also punched and kicked by the burglars, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.
The victim's screams for help caused her neighbors to come out and the couple ran off, deputies said.
Both the man and woman were wearing masks at the time of the attack. The man is described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a stocky build and brown hair. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue-and-white-striped shirt, shorts and a baseball cap with a black and green bandana with skulls on it covering his face, officials said.
The woman is described as being heavyset on top with skinny legs. She was wearing a pink shirt with stripes and gray pants, deputies said.
Deputies said several other doors at the apartment complex had been sprayed with a chemical agent.
Two similar incidents, in which people were knocking on doors claiming to be police, were reported across the street from Osceola Point Apartments, but no one opened their doors, the Sheriff's Office said.
Residents of the complex told News 6 they received a notice from property managers telling them about the police impersonators, but they said they didn't tell them a resident was attacked.
They said they're concerned because there are a lot of children who live there.
"My kids go to the bus in the morning," said one resident. "We walk with them but when they come home from school, I'm at work. They walk by themselves to the house."
"Of course, I’m scared," she said. "I can't even feel safe in the place that I’m living in."
The Sheriff's Office issued a warning to residents Thursday, telling them not to open their doors to any unknown persons and to call 911 to confirm anyone who identifies themselves as police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at 407-348-2222 or call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).