This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Sandy couple say two men pretending to be police tied them up at gun point and robbed them.
About 10 a.m. Thursday, the couple, who are in their 80s, answered a knock on their door near 200 E. Pioneer Ave. (8530 South) to find two men on the porch. One wore a badge around his neck, said he was a police officer and asked if they could come in and talk to the couple, said Sandy Police Sgt. John Arnold.
But he wasn't a cop. As soon as the men came in, they pushed the couple down and tied them up with plastic ties while a third man held them at gunpoint, Arnold said. As the couple lay face-down on the floor, the robbers spent the next 10 minutes ransacking the house.
During the robbery, the men asked the couple for the combination to a safe, but the couple said there was nothing inside it and didn't provide a combination. The suspects only took some jewelry and left many other valuables behind — which led police to think they were looking for something specific but didn't find it, Arnold said.
The couple could not describe the two men at the door and did not get a good look at the third man with the handgun. A neighbor told police there may have been a fourth person waiting outside in a white van, which the other three drove off in after leaving the house.
The husband, who wasn't securely tied up, broke free and freed his wife, Arnold said. He then called police.
"Our concern is that [the suspects] were presenting themselves as law enforcement," Arnold said. He recommends that anyone who is concerned about whether someone is actually an officer ask for identification. Officers have photo ID and should be willing to share it, he said.
Anyone with information can call Sandy police at 801-840-4000.