Former Fairmount Heights Police Officer Charged With Rape, Exposing Victim To HIV During Traffic Stop
FAIRMOUNT HEIGHTS, MD. (WJZ) — A Prince George's County grand jury indicted a former Fairmount Heights police officer on a list of charges to include rape and exposing/attempting to expose the victim to HIV.
Prince George's County Police arrested the former officer in December 2019 for allegedly raping a citizen after a traffic stop, before he resigned from the department.
Earlier in January, a judge had initially dismissed the first-degree rape charge and gave the officer, Martique Vanderpool, home confinement and placement on electronic monitoring.
But after the grand jury received all the evidence, they returned to the charges Tuesday to include first-degree rape.
On September 6, 2019, Vanderpool and another officer with Fairmount Heights Police conducted a traffic stop at Sheriff Road and Cabin Branch Drive in Capitol Heights.
The victim, a woman, was the only person in the car. During the stop, Vanderpool asked the victim to step out of her car. She was then handcuffed. Vanderpool then called for a tow truck to impound the victim's car.
She was taken back to the Fairmount Heights Police Department, and while there, Vanderpool allegedly demanded the victim engage in a sex act or be arrested.
The victim complied, police said. After, Vanderpool issued the victim several citations, drove her to the impound lot and had her car released back to her.
Vanderpool was confirmed HIV positive during the investigation, police confirmed.
If you were a victim of a sexual assault involving Vanderpool or if you've had sexual contact with him and he did not disclose his HIV diagnosis and would like to speak to a detective, please call 301-856-2660.
The Prince George's County Health Department offers HIV screening. Anyone who would like testing or speak to someone anonymously is urged to call 301-583-3150.
