A former San Mateo police officer has been arrested and jailed with his bail set at $3.1 million after an investigation into allegations that he kidnapped, raped and threatened women while he was on duty as a police officer. The investigation yielded 22 counts against the officer.

31-year-old Noah W. Winchester, it is alleged, would, while he was on patrol at the American River College, would threaten to arrest women on fictitious charges if they refused to have intercourse with him. He would then take his victims to a motel or secluded park. Thus far, five victims have been identified.

Winchester had changed jobs from his position at Los Rios campus, where he had worked from January 1, 2009 until January 16th, 2015, to another position at the San Mateo police department before the investigation into his crimes was initiated. When the allegations were announced, Winchester was placed on leave from the department and then would subsequently resign from the department.[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]

Prior to working at the Los Rio district, Winchester began his police carreer at the Sacramento Police Department, he worked at that position in Sacramento from December 2006 until October 2007. According to that department. “he was released from employment” prior to Winchester completing his probationary period. The reason for his separation from that department has not been divulged. But, it has been revealed that the Sacramento department had initiated a sexual assault investigation into Winchester while he was employed at Los Rios, but no charges were ever filed. 

While investigating Winchester, additional alleged acts were uncovered, dating back to 2013 in San Mateo and Sacramento Counties. San Mateo police said in a news release, “Based on the severity of the allegations we immediately placed Winchester on indefinite leave before his next work shift, and turned the criminal portion of the investigation over to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.”

Winchester hid his acts fairly well, in 2014, a journalist for the Los Rios College paper, the American Current, went on a ride-along with Winchester, after which he wrote in the paper, ““The entire experience of my ride along was very insightful to understanding the daily life of an officer on campus. It wasn’t hard to see that Winchester is a man who takes pride in his work, and genuinely cares for the people who come onto his campus.”

It is reported that Winchester’s police union is considering paying for his defense. It is believed that Michael Raines will take over his defense. It was Raines who previously defended Barry Bonds in his defense against doping allegations.

If convicted, Winchester could be subject to a life sentence. He remains in custody.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adversal-468×60″]

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