A Bloomfield man is accused of posing as a police officer as a way of making a woman feel safe with him before he allegedly assaulted her inside his vehicle, Pittsburgh police said.

The suspect, Andrew Ranallo, 31, met the woman for the first time at a restaurant in the city on Thursday, when he identified himself as police officer by using identification cards, police said.

The woman said she felt safe enough with the man she assumed to be a police officer that she went with him in his car to another location, where he allegedly assaulted her inside his vehicle and refused to let her out.

Police said she escaped from the vehicle when it was stopped at a traffic signal and ran for help.

Detectives from the police department’s special victims unit arrested Ranallo on charges of indecent assault, criminal attempt at indecent assault, false imprisonment, and impersonating a public servant.

Ranallo was arraigned on the charges on Saturday morning and released on $10,000 unsecured bond, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 4.

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