Man Accused Of Posing As Cop In Waterbury Sexual Assault: Reports

WATERBURY, CT — A man accused of posing as a police officer and sexually assaulting a woman in Waterbury in 2016 has been arrested in Washington state and charged with the crime from years earlier, according to multiple reports.

Niamkey Amichia, 33, caught the attention of police in Washington earlier this year when he was being investigated for an unrelated sexual assault in the state, after which his DNA was matched with that of the unknown suspect in the 2016 Waterbury case, several outlets including the Hartford Courant reported.

Amichia was extradited from Washington state to Waterbury last week and arraigned Friday, according to FOX61.

He is facing charges including home invasion, sexual assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and impersonation of a police officer, and is in custody at the Connecticut Department of Corrections, where he is being held on a $3 million bond, according to the Courant.

Amichia was arrested in March in connection with the Oct. 2022 assault in Washington state, where he is accused of raping a woman he arranged to meet for sexual services, CTInsider reported. He was fired as an officer-in-training with the Puyallup Police Department shortly after his arrest.

When Washington authorities entered Amichia's DNA data into the Combined DNA Index System or CODIS, there was a match with the DNA of the unknown suspect in the Waterbury case, according to CTInsider. That's when Washington police reached out to Waterbury police, who were able to obtain their arrest warrant for Amichia.

In Waterbury, Amichia is accused of knocking on a woman's door and entering her home, claiming to be the police, CTInsider reported, citing an arrest warrant affidavit.

"The male zip-tied the victim’s hands behind her back and forced her to have sexual intercourse," the affidavit said.

Amichia claims that the woman in Waterbury was "another" sex worker and he was "not into tying people up," police said, according to CTInsider.

Amichia has not entered a plea to the charges and is due back in court Feb. 14, the Courant reported.