Rapes trigger fear on Arizona reservation

[carzen]

FORT APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. (AP) — A man in a dark shirt and hat emblazoned POLICE has raped 10 girls and a young women after "arresting" them — a string of attacks that has made people on the reservation suspicious of even the real officers investigating the case.

Residents of the tribal capital of Whiteriver are bolting their doors, walking in pairs and demanding their children are inside by sundown.

"It's unsettling," said Gwendena Real Bird, who has a 5-year-old daughter. "It makes you very uneasy. I just can't fathom the trauma those girls experienced."

The phony police officer has been attacking victims since March on a dusty trail that winds behind more than 100 homes in Whiteriver. He tells his victims they are under arrest, then handcuffs and rapes them.

.......

"It has created an atmosphere of fear," said Warren Youngman, assistant agent in charge at the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. "When we did our neighborhood canvassing, we had people afraid of our officers."


http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-73/116041736273920.xml&storylist=national