Police impersonator on MS Coast arrested in attempted rape and kidnapping, police say
A convicted felon from Gulfport claimed to be a police officer when he allegedly assaulted a woman and tried to force her into his car with threats to rape and kill her if she didn’t cooperate with him, Waveland Police Chief Mike Prendergast said.
Elijah Anthony Dunomes, 32, is now jailed in Hancock County on felony charges of attempted kidnapping and attempted rape.
The investigation began after a motorist spotted the suspect assaulting the woman in a ditch on Tigris Street, called police and stopped to help the woman.
The suspect, later identified as Dunomes, jumped in his car and left after the witness stopped to help the victim.
When police arrived, Prendergast said, they found the victim covered in blood.
The woman later told authorities that she was walking down Tigris Street toward Highway 603 when the suspect drove up behind her in a white Chevrolet Impala, pulled over in front of her, and blocked her.
The man jumped out of his car and attempted to grab the woman, but she started fighting back, Prendergast said, hitting the suspect in the head with a computer in her laptop bag.
During the alleged assault, Prendergast said, Dunomes told the woman that he was “the police” and was planning to sexually assault her. When the man stopped to help the woman, the suspect jumped in his car and drove off.
Police alerted authorities to be on the lookout for the suspect and described the car he was driving.
Bay St. Louis police officers arrested Dunomes after spotting him in his vehicle at Bay Fuel.
After his arrest, Dunomes was taken to the Hancock County jail. He is being held without bond.
A review of court and arrest records shows Dunomes has been previously convicted of various charges, including commercial burglary, malicious mischief, DUI and failure to yield to law enforcement officers.
Those crimes occurred in Harrison County, records show.
This story was originally published October 4, 2023 at 1:59 PM.
