The Bonney Lake police arrested a suspect in the case of a man posing as a police officer during a strong-arm robbery.

The 34-year-old man, a resident of Graham, had been working as a security guard in Puyallup and was arrested at 1 a.m. Jan. 10, two days after the robbery was committed. The man was booked into the Pierce County jail.

Bonney Lake Police Chief Mike Mitchell said the “department as a whole made it a priority to solve this case. Investigations along with patrol spent every minute they could to make an arrest that we believe will stick.”

The robbery occurred at 9 p.m. Jan. 8 on 104th Street near Bonney Lake High School.

The man, dressed as a police officer with a pistol in a holster on his belt, stopped a 55-year-old woman. The suspect was driving a Ford Crown Victoria with red and blue grill lights and a spotlight attached to the vehicle.

The man asked the driver if she had been drinking and requested to see her driver’s license. She asked the man if he wanted her to step out of the vehicle to prove she had not been drinking. The woman said the man suddenly punched the left side of her face. He reached into the vehicle and stole her red leather purse.

The man sped away in the Ford on 104th Street East.

The break in the case came Jan. 9 when the man showed up in the driveway of the 55-year-old woman who had been robbed. She spotted him and called 911.

Detectives were able to track the man down at his job in Puyallup and made the arrest.

The case is still being investigated and a series of search warrants are pending, according to police officials.

The man has been charged with robbery and unlawful imprisonment, both felony crimes.

Reach Dennis Box at dbox@courierherald.com or 360-802-8209.