Solon Springs man charged with impersonating an officer

A Solon Springs man accused of impersonating a detective to impress a woman he used to date made his initial appearance in Douglas County Court this week.

David Lee Peterson, 25, faces one misdemeanor count of impersonating a peace officer and one felony count of bail jumping stemming from a series of text messages he sent to the woman in April in which he identified himself as Detective Mike Miller from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the criminal complaint:

The woman received a text message from a person identifying themselves as Det. Miller on the afternoon of April 3, asking her to come to the sheriff’s department to make a statement regarding a man who had been looking for Peterson.

When she called the number back, a female answered the phone, saying “squad room,” but she said that Miller was not around. Shortly after that, the woman received another text from “Detective Miller” asking again for her to stop by the sheriff’s department to make a statement. The text went on to say that Peterson had taken a lie detector test and had passed all the questions, and that the Solon Springs man has not been using drugs and needs her support.

When the woman stopped to give her statement, Miller told her he never texted her. She gave him the phone number the texts originated from; it was the same as Peterson’s new phone number. The woman said she and Peterson had dated for a number of years, and she felt this was his attempt to salvage their relationship.

When questioned by Miller, Peterson admitted sending the messages. He told Miller he didn’t think it was a big deal and that he wanted the woman to believe he was not committing crimes or using drugs.

Peterson has a number of pending cases in Douglas County Court, according to online court records. They include a number of theft charges, forgery and fraudulent use of a financial transaction card. As a condition of his cash bail in one of the theft cases, the criminal complaint stated, Peterson was not to commit any crimes. Because he allegedly committed a crime, he was charged with the count of bail jumping.

During his initial appearance, Peterson pleaded not guilty to the impersonating an officer charge. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for May 18. A $1,000 signature bond was ordered in the case.

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