(FIFE, Wa) — A man was charged for posing as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Washington state, according to police.
Ilya Kukhar, 26, was charged on Thursday for impersonating an ICE officer after he allegedly drove a vehicle that “displayed prominent emblems with large letters spelling ‘I.C.E’ along with a pseudo-seal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” the Fife Police Department said in a statement on Thursday.
At approximately 5 p.m. on March 16, police responded to a 911 call of a “suspicious vehicle at the Emish Market,” a Ukrainian grocery store in Fife, Washington, officials said.
The vehicle, which had no license plates, was identified as a black 2019 Ford SUV and was later confirmed to be a former patrol car for the Tukwila Police Department, officials said.
The presence of the vehicle “appeared intentional, targeting a Ukrainian grocery store” which indicated a “deliberate effort to intimidate and draw attention to itself,” police said.
Witnesses told officials that the “occupant(s)” of the vehicle were “recording employees and customers on video, causing alarm and concern,” police said.
Once police arrived on the scene, the vehicle left, officials said.
The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed that the vehicle was not an official DHS unit, leading the police — in coordination with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations Seattle field offices — to look into this incident, officials said.
In response to a bulletin posted by the Fife Police Department, officials in Tukwila “identified the vehicle as one of their former patrol cars,” officials said.
Previously, it had been “removed from their fleet after being involved in a collision,” officials said. Once it was no longer in service with the City of Tukwila, an insurance company sold it to a private buyer, police said.
After “numerous tips” and the assistance of Tukwila Police, the “primary suspect in this case” was identified as Kukhar, officials said. Police have not said if there are other suspects involved.
Kukhar, who is “not employed by any federal law enforcement agency,” has been charged with one count of Criminal Impersonation in the Second Degree.
He is currently not in police custody and his initial arraignment is scheduled for April 11, officials said.
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