Police Arrest Two Suspects in Cop-Impersonation Incidents

The pair have been charged in connection with a robbery and a possible robbery attempt in which the perpetrators pretended to be police officers.

Terrance Jacobus, left, and Kelli Rowan, right.

Terrance Jacobus, left, and Kelli Rowan, right.

Philadelphia Police on Wednesday night arrested two South Philadelphia residents in connection with two incidents where two neighborhood residents were accosted, and one robbed, by individuals claiming to be police officers.

Terrance Jacobus, 49, of the 200 block of Federal Street, and Kelli Rowan, 28, of the 100 block of Fernon Street, were in a Jeep Cherokee on the block where Rowan lived when officers from the Third Police District stopped their vehicle around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday. Based on information supplied by South Division Detectives, the officers arrested the pair and charged them with impersonating law enforcement, robbery, criminal conspiracy, theft and related offenses.

The incidents that led to the arrest both took place in the early morning hours of Nov. 29. In the earlier incident, a 23-year-old woman fled after a man and a woman got out of a silver Nissan near 4th and Jackson streets. The man flashed a badge and told the woman he was a police officer. He then told her to come to the car and that she would be arrested if she resisted. She called the police after running to her nearby home.

About two hours later, the pair stopped a man walking in the 1600 block of East Passyunk Avenue. Again, the man got out of the car, told the victim he was a police officer, and said the victim matched the description of a man accused of selling drugs. After the victim handed the “officer” his wallet, the man went through it and handed his medical card and ID to the woman, who was still in the vehicle. The man then frisked the victim, searched his backpack, then handed the wallet and ID back to the victim after the woman said his ID cards matched. After the car sped off up Passyunk Avenue, the victim checked his wallet and noticed that the $14 he had in his wallet was missing. He then called the police.

It wasn’t readily known if Jacobus and Rowan are still being held pending arraignment or are free on bail.