Phony Cop Fools Town

When Bill Jakob arrived in Gerald, Missouri, he had a badge, a gun and a tricked-out Crown Victoria. The one thing he did not have was a plan...at least not a long-term one.

Jakob told officials in the town that he had experience as an anti-drug agent in Illinois. In actuality, he is an unemployed truck driver with a criminal record who has filed for bankruptcy.

At least 17 people of the town have sued including one elderly lady who was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward because she didn't cooperate with police and a man who claims Jakob held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him in front of his child.

Complaints about his behavior spurred an investigation in which officials discovered that the organization he claimed to have worked for dissolved over ten years ago. They also found out that his car was purchased at a used car dealership.

Gerald's Mayor, Otis Schulte, has been quoted as saying, "He had credentials. He had a badge. He had a phone number to call for verification. I don't know what else we could have done."

Officials now believe that the phone number provided was actually Jakob's wife who provided a false reference.

The mayor has been listed as the defendant in two of the lawsuits, and the town’s alderman was listed in a third suit. There is also a petition circulating to have the mayor removed from office. The mayor is comparing the town’s situation and Jakob's impersonation of a police officer to con artist Frank Abagnale Jr., a man who impersonated a police officer, an airline pilot and a lawyer in the 1960's.

That does not seem to be a fair comparison considering all of the avenues we have to conduct thorough background checks today.