Police Fear Suspect May Have Posed As A Cop

An accused drug dealer is jailed.  The News On 6's crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports investigators say when he wasn't tipping off other drug dealers about police investigations, he was pretending to be an officer himself.

Undercover drug officers originally started investigating the man because they believe he was warning other drug dealers about their investigations and that could put officers' lives on the line. Then, when they served a search warrant at his house on Friday, they say what they found made them realize he was a danger to the rest of us.

The suspect is Jeremy Ledbetter.  Records show he's an ex-con, for shooting with intent to kill and various thefts.  He's on parole, but police say that didn't stop him from having a shotgun, ammo, drugs and police scanners tuned to police frequencies.

They say he used them to warn people under investigation.

"Even in one case, he heard a description of a drug dealer we were following. He waited until we left the area, wrote a note and put it on the windshield, informing him, hey, police are looking at you," said Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley.

That's exactly the kind of information undercover officers keep secret because advance warning could mean ambushes, where officers get hurt or even killed.

"When you run into an individual willing to stoop this low to use scanners to warn bad guys police officers might be knocking on your door soon, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up little bit," said Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley.

Police say they also found handcuffs, a police hat, even a fake card TPD identification card.  And, they say Ledbetter's car, a Crown Victoria, comes complete with lights in the grill and on the mirrors.

"Even myself, looking at the pictures, he could've stopped me and initially I would've thought he was a police officer," said Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley.

They worry Ledbetter may have used police gear to commit other crimes they don't yet know about.

Any time you're being pulled over and you're not sure if it's an officer, you have a couple of options. Turn on your inside light, wave and drive slowly to the nearest well lit, well-populated area. Or, use your cell phone and call 911, tell them where you are and ask if the person behind you is really a cop.