LINTHICUM, Md. — Anne Arundel County Police have arrested a man who allegedly extorted money from a prostitute while impersonating a police officer.
The VICE unit initially responded to a September 16 tip about prostitution going on at a Linthicum area hotel.
Detectives talked to the woman involved, and found out that two days earlier she gave money to a man she thought was a police officer to avoid being arrested.
The woman told police that the man visited her hotel room and said he was a cop while holding what to her looked like a police radio.
Investigators later identified the man as 53-year-old James Ewing Menke Jr. of Pasadena and determined he was not a police officer.
Police recovered a canister of pepper spray with 'POLICE' written on it, a stun gun with a 'POLICE' sticker on it, and a small portable radio from Menke.
He was arrested and charged with impersonating a police officer and extortion.
