Nicole remembers feeling grateful that Officer Morgan McGrew agreed to meet her so early in the morning. The 7:30 a.m. appointment would let her verify her car’s vehicle identification number and still make it to work on time.
But when she met McGrew in the parking lot of the West Valley California Highway Patrol Office in Woodland Hills, the officer said he was having trouble finding the VIN sticker on her car door. Then the conversation abruptly shifted.
“‘I’ll pass this car, and you’ll be able to get your registration, if you go out on a date with me,’” she remembers McGrew saying. “I kind of froze,” she says.
Nicole, who spoke on condition that her full name not be published to respect her privacy, was one of 21 women McGrew propositioned and harassed during VIN verification appointments, according to records from a 2016 internal investigation obtained by KQED and the California Reporting Project. Four women said McGrew offered to pass their vehicles if they would go on a date or to a nearby motel with him. Two said McGrew sent them text messages soliciting sex after he took down their phone numbers during a VIN appointment. Fifteen described McGrew making comments that ranged from proposing sex to asking intrusive personal questions.
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