This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
He thought the man at his door was a police officer.
And when a Sandy resident on the 1900 East block of Viscounti Drive (8100 South) answered his door just after 7 a.m. on Friday, he asked to see some identification.
The man at the door produced something that made the resident believe he was indeed a cop, said Sandy police Lt. Troy Arnold. But after the resident let the man inside, several other people also entered, binding the man's hands and burglarizing the home, Arnold said.
The resident, who was alone in the home and wasn't hurt, didn't get a good look at the perpetrators.
"We have very limited suspect information... [the resident] was unable to see any of the additional suspects," Arnold said. Investigators are still assessing what was taken from the home and what details, if any, the victim can provide. Because the resident thought the man at his door was an officer, he wasn't scrutinizing the details of his appearance, Arnold said.
Detectives are also looking into whether this incident is connected to a similar one in October that was never solved.
In that case, a couple in their 80s answered a knock on their door near 200 E. Pioneer Ave. (8530 South) to find two men — one of whom said he was a police officer who asked if they could come in and talk with them. But he wasn't a cop, either, and as soon as the men entered, they pushed the couple down and tied them up while a third man held them at gunpoint, according to the police. As the couple lay face-down on the floor, the robbers ransacked the house.
Arnold recommends that anyone concerned about whether someone is actually an officer ask for identification. Officers have a badge and photo ID they should be willing to share.
And real officers shouldn't mind if people want to take a minute to call dispatchers just to be sure, since the dispatch center should know if law enforcement is at their home, Arnold said.
mmcfall@sltrib.comTwitter: @mikeypanda