Fake Cop Followed Woman Home: Deputies

SARASOTA, FL — A 55-year-old Bradenton man faces criminal charges after Sarasota County deputies say he followed a spa owner home over the weekend and then proceeded to rob her. The man is also accused of passing himself off as a police officer while visiting the woman’s Sarasota spa on previous occasions and during the alleged attack.

Deputies say Felix Alling-Montenegro was a regular customer of the 48-year-old victim since she became the owner of a massage and foot spa in Sarasota in January. Alling-Montenegro, an arrest report stated, was known to frequent the spa several times a week and would “specifically request the victim each visit.”

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During his visits, the reported noted, Alling-Montenegro “told employees that he is a police officer and has shown a photo ID in a billfold to employees.”

On Sunday, April 2, deputies say Alling-Montenegro followed the woman to her Sarasota home and pulled his vehicle up behind hers. He’s then accused of getting out of his vehicle and approaching the woman’s.

The victim, the report noted, recognized him from the spa and was frightened to have him near her home and children. With that in mind, the victim drove off, but deputies say Alling-Montenegro followed her. At one point, he reportedly passed her, but made a U-turn, drove toward the woman and then blocked the road. The woman, deputies say, had to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting his vehicle.

At that point, Alling-Montenegro is accused of getting out of his vehicle, approaching the woman’s and slamming his hands on the hood. He “told her to stop and identified himself as a police officer,” the report said.

Deputies say the woman told him she was going to call the police, but he produced a photo ID with a star on it and a pair of handcuffs. The woman again repeated she was going to call the police, but Alling-Montenegro is accused of forcing the driver’s side window of her vehicle down, reaching in and slapping her twice in the face, “causing facial swelling and redness.”

Alling-Montenegro is then accused of taking the woman’s cellphone and driving off from the scene.

During the course of the subsequent investigation, deputies say the victim was able to provide them with a photograph of Alling-Montenegro taken at the spa. His fingerprints were also found on the victim’s vehicle.

Alling-Montenegro’s April 3 arrest was announced by the sheriff’s office on Thursday. He faces robbery, tampering with a victim and impersonating a law enforcement officer charges. Alling-Montenegro was being held in the Sarasota County Jail on Thursday without bond.

Patch is not identifying the victim in the case.

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Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office