Police: Man impersonating SWAT officer robs victims at gunpoint

MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- A couple of men trying to sell food stamps were robbed at gunpoint by a man impersonating a SWAT officer Thursday evening in Marysville, according to the Marysville Police Department.

According to police, the men went to a parking lot near 88th Street and State Avenue around 7:30 p.m. to sell an EBT card. While they were waiting in their car, a dark Volkswagen Passat with tinted windows pulled up next to them.

The driver of the Passat got out, pointed a gun at the men and said he was "task force," ordering them out of the car, according to police. The man reportedly searched the victims and then told them to face a shed in the parking lot and not move.

The victims did as they were told, and the real police arrived to find them still facing the shed and not moving. When the responding officer asked the men what they were doing, one replied, "What do you mean? The cop told us to stand right here and not to move."

Witnesses later told officers they saw a man in what appeared to be a bullet-proof vest with the word SWAT written on it and a badge on his hip frisking the men in the parking lot.

According to police, one of the victim's had a large amount of cash stolen from him by the cop impersonator.