PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A former grocery store security guard who raped a woman who’d requested his help will serve two decades in prison.
30-year-old Jamir Hassan Wallace was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison, with an additional 11 years suspended on multiple conditions, including him registering as a sex offender and not contacting the victim upon release.
“Mr. Wallace’s serious crime has earned him a serious sentence,” said Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “When the victim asked for help, Mr. Wallace raped her in her own home. My thoughts continue to be with the victim, and I hope that this sentence offers her some closure.”
Fatehi’s office says the rape happened after an initial encounter at the store on Feb. 13, 2022. The victim’s car, she loaned to a friend at the time, was stolen from the parking lot, and Wallace offered to help her recover it. Wallace falsely suggested multiple times that he was a Norfolk police officer, and that he had “coworkers” at the “station” who could help with the case.
Wallace later said he needed to meet the victim at her house to share additional information. When he arrived, still in his security guard uniform, he claimed he was there to arrest the victim’s friend for allegedly stealing inventory from inside the store.
After the victim protested, Wallace directed her upstairs to her bedroom and raped her, Fatehi’s office said. He was arrested three days later at the grocery store, and authorities recovered the security outfit he wore during the assault.
Wallace was eventually found guilty of rape, forcible sodomy and impersonating a law enforcement officer in a bench trial in August 2023.
