FAIRMOUNT HEIGHTS, Md. (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a former police officer in Maryland accused of raping a woman he had pulled over and exposing her to HIV.
Martique Vanderpool, 30, has been charged with 11 counts including first-degree rape, authorities said at a press conference Wednesday, according to news outlets.
Court documents state Vanderpool stopped the woman in September while he was working for the Fairmount Heights Police Department. Police said the woman didn't have a driver's license and Vanderpool called to have her car impounded.
Vanderpool noticed condoms in the armrest of the car and asked the woman if she was a prostitute, court documents state. He took her to the police station once her car was towed away.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Vanderpool asked the woman once they got to the station, according to charging documents. Vanderpool allegedly demanded sex from the woman in exchange for getting her car back. The woman told police she complied because she feared for her safety, the documents state.
Vanderpool then gave the woman several citations and drove her to the impound lot to pick up her car so she could leave, investigators said.
During the course of the investigation, a "sharp-eyed" investigator discovered Vanderpool had HIV, Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said. The woman was given preventative medication after the discovery. Authorities wouldn't say whether she contracted the virus.
Vanderpool resigned in November and was released on bond after being arrested in December, news outlets reported. He was arrested again Wednesday and was being held without bond.
An attorney for Vanderpool didn't immediate respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.
Authorities said there could be more victims and have asked anyone with information to come forward.
