OTTUMWA, IA -- Press release from the Ottumwa Police Department

On October 25, 2009 at approximately 5:00 p.m., the police department responded to the Ottumwa Skatepark located in the 300 Block of South Market Street in Ottumwa for a report of a disturbance in which at least one of the persons involved was impersonating a police officer.  Upon conclusion of the investigation, arrest warrants were issued for two persons.

On October 29, 2009 at approximately 4:57 p.m, 31-year-old Jeremy Lee Hammond of Ottumwa was arrested and charged with Impersonating A Public Official.  Hammond was transported to the Wapello County Jail where he later posted bond and was released.  Impersonating A Public Official is an aggravated misdemeanor.  Additional arrests as a result of the incident are pending.

Chief Jim Clark stated, “We won’t tolerate people impersonating a police officer and will ensure each person who does is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  We want our citizens to have the confidence that when someone says they are a police officer, that the person really is a police officer.”