PALMER PARK, Md. -- A Prince George's County police officer arrested for allegedly raping a woman during a traffic stop mistakenly tossed his own license in the car of the victim he raped, sources tell WUSA9.
Prince George's County Police Officer Ryan Macklin was suspended without pay after he allegedly stopped a woman and sexually assaulted her on October 11 around 1 a.m.
He is being held without bail in the Prince George's County jail.
A spokeswoman for the immigrant advocacy group Casa de Maryland came to the organization for help after reporting the incident to police. They say the victim is in the country without legal documents. But neither investigators nor Casa de Maryland legal staff know if she was targeted because of her status in the country. Police say Macklin could not have known she was undocumented until after he pulled her over.
Internal Affairs investigators arrested Macklin Monday night and he is being charged with five counts of rape and assault.
Law enforcement sources tell WUSA9 that as Macklin got flustered and was trying to leave the scene, he mistakenly tossed his own license at the victim because he forgot he'd given her license back already.
According to Prince George's Count Police Department Spokesperson Jennifer Donelan, Macklin was in uniform, on duty and in a marked cruiser at the time.
Chief Stawinski showed a video during the Monday evening press conference that he says shows Officer Macklin activating his emergency lights at the beginning of the traffic stop outside of what appears to be a furniture store. Stawinski said before the lights were activated, Officer Macklin pulled along side the victim's car, backed off, moved behind her car, and then activated his cruiser's police lights.
The officer is accused of forcing the female victim to perform a sexual act while they were both in her car in a nearby parking lot.
The officer is a 6-year veteran of the Prince Georges County Police Department who was named Patrol Officer of the Month back in March of 2014. He was honored with the award for recovering a handgun during a traffic stop, leading to the arrest of three of the occupants of the vehicle.
