Alleged Lynn cop impersonator indicted

SALEM – A Lynn man who police say impersonated a police officer for a second time in order to get sex from a woman as he threatened to arrest her was indicted Friday afternoon by an Essex County grand jury.John Reis, 51, of 10 Parker Hill Ave., stands charged with kidnapping, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, attempted extortion and impersonating a police officer.The charges arise out of an incident in Lynn on the night of Oct. 22 when a 28-year-old woman reported to police that she was walking down Union Street when a man, later identified as Reis, pulled up in a dark pick-up truck and ordered her to get inside the vehicle.As she hesitated Reis apparently told her he was a cop as he ordered her inside. Reis then informed her he was going to arrest her for being a common street walker if she did not have sex with him at her home. He told her he would drive her home while ordering her to get rid of her husband and other family members so they could have sex.The victim said she was fearful, but asked Reis for his badge number. He informed her if he showed her his badge he would have to arrest her as he reportedly fondled her breasts.He dropped the woman off at her residence on Alice Avenue and returned about 30 minutes later, but the victim’s mother-in-law ran out and confronted Reis, demanding he show her his badge or she was calling police. Reis then jumped into his truck and sped away from the area, but not until his license plate was jotted down.The victim and her mother-in-law called police and provided police with a description of the impersonator along with the license plate number.Police arrested Reis at his home. He previously was arrested in August of 1999 for impersonating a police officer and violating a John law, police said.The victim later identified Reis through a photo array shown to her by police.The indictments handed up now move the case from Lynn District Court, where he has pleaded innocent, to Salem Superior Court, where Reis will be re-arraigned within the next few weeks.Assistant District attorney Christina Pujals Ronan is prosecuting the case for the commonwealth.Indictments are not an indication of guilt, rather it is a legal process that allows a case to be transferred from District Court to Superior Court allowing for a more severe punishment.