Rape suspect who allegedly posed as police officer denies crime again

TAMPA - A man accused of posing as a police officer twice again denied raping a woman during a court appearance Sunday morning.

Police say 31-year-old Luis Marcelo Munuzuri Harris pulled over the woman during a fake traffic stop Thursday night, told her he was an undercover police officer and raped her in the backseat of his car.

Investigators say he was caught after tried to pass himself off as a cop a second time, after he allegedly flashed a gun at Pete's Place, a bar on Henderson Boulevard, around 2:30 Saturday morning.

During his first court appearance, Harris again denied any wrongdoing. "I didn't rape anybody. I didn't pistol whip anybody," he said.

"Sir, that's why they have trials," replied judge Robert Foster Jr.

Harris was denied bond.

"He approached two people at Pete's Place which is that club they were at, and he identified himself as a narcotics detective and he displayed to them what appeared to be a firearm. They ran for safety reasons and called 9-1-1," said Lt. Donny Peters of Tampa Police.

Peters said he pointed that gun at one of the men, Dennis Zuilkowski, who happens to be a recent police academy graduate, and struck him on the back of the head.

Officers pursued Harris after he fled the scene, police said, and found him on the roof of a building at 4203 Henderson Boulevard.

As he was led to a waiting squad car outside Tampa Police Headquarters Saturday afternoon, Harris, at first, kept his head down and avoid contact with the media waiting outside.

But suddenly, he opened up.

"I didn't rape that young lady. It has to do with a sexual battery in '99 where I was acquitted and now they're trying to do the same thing. Look at the records in Volusia County." Harris told reporters. "I was found not guilty by jury trial and now they're trying to pin another rape on me. I didn't rape anybody."

Around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night, a woman between the ages of 30 and 35 was driving on Bayshore Boulevard near Howard Avenue, when Harris flagged her down using a blue laser flashlight, according to police.

He told the victim he was an undercover narcotics police officer, and said he pulled her over because he believed she was intoxicated. The suspect handcuffed the victim and had her get into the rear seat of his vehicle, which was parked in the median of Bayshore Boulevard. The suspect told her he was going to take her to jail.

"We haven't confirmed that he's a police officer anywhere, but he talks as if he was." said Peters. "Some of the characteristics he performed out there would make one think he has some law enforcement experience."

"I attended the Academy in 1998, 13-years ago." Harris told reporters.

Police say Harris drove around before taking the woman to a bank in Hyde Park where he used the victim's debit card to withdraw money from an ATM machine.

With the victim still in his car, Harris drove back to the area where he picked up the victim, parked his car on Bayshore Boulevard near Patriots Park then climbed into the back seat and sexually battered the victim, police said.  He then allowed her to exit his car.

The suspect told the victim he would follow her home, but within a few blocks he disappeared. The victim continued home and immediately called 911.

Detectives obtained a still photograph of Harris from a surveillance camera at the Hyde Park bank where he used the victim's debit card. 

Police say the victim in both incidents positively identified Harris. 

Harris was already wanted in Volusia County on two active warrants out of Volusia County, for aggravated stalking and violation of probation.

Now he'll face charges of sexual battery, kidnapping, falsely impersonating an officer and identity theft for the alleged rape. 

He's also charged with armed kidnapping, impersonating a police officer, aggravated battery with a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm for the incident at Pete's Place.