Man pretended to be police officer before raping US woman in home

A woman was beaten and raped inside her home in a violent and shocking crime, US police in Alabama say.

According to investigators, the suspect forced his way in to the woman's house in the city of Loxley, after banging on her door and yelling, "Police!"

The suspect is still on the loose.

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Loxley Police have released two sketches. They portray the man investigators said committed an unspeakable crime.

It was after 4:00am on Thursday, October 20, when the woman was woken from her sleep by loud banging on her front door.

She began to open the door when police said the suspect forced his way in and began his assault.

"There was an assault that took place. He supposedly struck her with some sort of an instrument she described as a club or a small bat and then some other struggles took place," said Lt. Doug Phillips with Loxley Police.

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Investigators said the suspect then raped the woman inside her home, at one point during the assault telling her he'd had her under surveillance.

Police hope that information and other details recalled by the victim, along with her description of the assailant will help in identifying the suspect.

While no other cases like this have been reported around the county, those who live in the area of County Road 68 are very uneasy with an accused rapist still on the loose.

"As a female, it's concerning, especially me being a single mother and that is real concerning because there are people that I know as women who lives around where I'm at," said Lindsey Lawrence who lives nearby.

"It's very concerning to us women, especially coming from a man who's impersonating a police officer."

Investigators said the suspect didn't identify himself as being with any particular agency, but was wearing the same style, dark blue cargo pants commonly worn by law enforcement and a polo shirt with a badge emblem on the front.

This, and yelling the word, "police" could be enough to warrant an additional charge of impersonating a police officer.

Police said if someone knocks on your door saying they're police, you should always ask who they're with and the reason for the visit. If you're still unsure, call police to verify an officer has been sent to your location.

The victim in this case was treated at the hospital for the sexual assault and required staples in her head.