STAFFORD, Va. - Stafford County investigators handed out flyers Tuesday night, hoping for the public's help in their search for a police impersonator who pulled over a teenage girl last week and abducted and sexually assaulted her.

The Stafford County Sheriff's Office says the victim, a 17-year-old girl, was driving in the area of Hope Road and Walker Way in Stafford about 6 p.m. Saturday, January 31. The victim told police she was pulled over by what appeared to be a black Ford Crown Victoria with flashing red lights in the front and rear of the passenger compartment.

"At that point, [the impersonator] asked her what she was doing and had she been drinking and asked her to exit the vehicle," Sheriff's Office spokesman Bill Kennedy said. "At that point, the suspect grabbed the teenage girl and pulled her back to his vehicle, picked her up and put her in his backseat where she was sexually assaulted."

After the assault, the victim got out of the suspect's car and he drove away. 

The asasilant was described as a white male, 5'11" and in his early twenties. He wore a dark-green parka-style jacket, dark-blue jeans and thin leather gloves, police said. 

The attack took place on a rural two-lane road. Authorities say the suspect was unarmed, not wearing a uniform, nor did he have a badge.

Many young drivers find the attack frightening.

"The fact that somebody would actually fake to be a police officer and then pull you over and take you into their car and do that stuff to you in crazy," Meghan Thornton said.

"I got pulled over at least four times and I never once actually thought that it could not be a cop," Erica Gilchrist said. "You always just think you're safe -- it's a cop -- you're safe but I guess you're not."

There is at least one test in Virginia to know if the car trying to pull you over is a legitimate police vehicle: any Virginia law enforcement officer with the authority to make traffic stops must have blue flashing lights.

Investigators ask anyone who saw the vehicle on Hope Road around the time of the incident, or has any information as to the identity of the assailant, to call the Stafford County Sheriff's Office or Crime Solvers at 540-659-2020.

Police advise motorists suspicious of a traffic stop can "continue to slowly drive to a well-lighted or highly-populated area to ensure their safety and the authenticity of the vehicle pulling them over."

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