Third strike for alleged cop impersonator

WASILLA — A man with a history of convictions for impersonating police officers again found himself on the wrong side of the law this week, with emergency lights on his car and a real-looking badge.

According to an affidavit filed in court against Kenneth W. Wilson, 28, a tip about the alleged impersonation came from Wilson’s roommate just before 4:30 p.m., Monday.

The author of the affidavit, Dug Cook, writes that the roommate related a story about how on Saturday he and Wilson were in driving in a silver 2002 Ford Explorer conducting “’surveillance’ of suspects for a private citizen in an effort [to] recover that person’s stolen snowmachine,” Cook wrote.

Wilson and his roommate wound up at the Tesoro station on Seward Meridian Parkway.

“Wilson activated the emergency lights and siren on his Ford Explorer while attempting to stop the vehicle. … The ‘suspect’ vehicle, occupied by two females, refused to stop and a short chase around the parking lot ensued,” Cook wrote, based on the roommate’s recollections.

The chase continued out onto the road, but Wilson eventually gave up.

“Once back home Wilson stated he knew that was wrong and that he was not supposed to be purporting himself as a police officer,” Cook wrote.

Wilson runs a business dubbed AK Fugitive Recovery Team. Cook spoke to Wilson who told him he’d had the lights put on his vehicle “for my own personal safety,” the trooper recounted.

“If I had been in the opposing vehicle of the incident … I would absolutely think I was being stopped by police,” Cook wrote.

Wilson told the trooper the incident actually happened on Sunday. Cook said he searched the Explorer and found there was a control unit for the lights installed as well as a two-way radio in the front seat.

“The vehicle looked remarkably like an unmarked undercover law enforcement vehicle,” Cook wrote.

Wilson also showed him a badge he carries that looks like the ones U.S. Marshals use, but which says “FUGITIVE RECOVERY AGENT.” A search of the apartment turned up bullet-resistant vests, two million-volt stun guns, handcuffs, pistols, a rifle and a blue baseball cap with gold lettering spelling out “BEA” similar to hats Drug Enforcement Agency officers wear, and a polo shirt that said “FUGITIVE RECOVERY AGENT” on the back.

Court documents show Wilson’s history dates back at least as far as 2001 when he was first arrested for impersonating a public official.

In an affidavit filed at that time, Wasilla Police Department Officer Joel Smith, who was a patrol officer then, says that he was flagged down by a man at Wonderland Park who Wilson had just hassled for having a gun in his car. During the incident, the man told Smith, Wilson spoke into a walkie-talkie and used an Alaska State Trooper radio call sign.

“He knows the subject is not a trooper because he is friends with the trooper who uses the designator the subject used,” Smith wrote.

Smith tracked Wilson down through his license plates, but Wilson was evasive, saying he was only at the park long enough to change a hose on his vehicle, but also changed his story. Smith found a flashing light medics use on their vehicles inside Wilson’s car.

“Wasilla officers have had contact with Wilson on prior occasions at Wonderland Park. On the prior contacts, Wilson was on a bike, wearing a black “Security” shirt, handcuffs on his belt and a handheld scanner. He had indicated on one occasion he worked for Pinkerton Security; however, this was found out to be not true,” Smith wrote.

In 2004, Wilson got in trouble for successfully pulling someone over with his lights. In August of that year, a man called troopers to complain someone in a Ford Focus with yellow and green lights had pulled him over on Big Lake Lodge Road.

“The male subject got out and told them he was an undercover trooper and requested to see the driver’s identification,” Kathy Peterson, then a Palmer trooper, wrote in an affidavit in that case.

The man gave the license back and the motorist went on his way. But then a month later that same car pulled out onto the Palmer-Wasilla Highway behind the same motorist.

“He realized it was the same car around Seward Meridian and called the troopers. The vehicle was following very close behind him and he put his phone in the air so the driver could see he was on the phone,” Peterson wrote.

That same day, Tom Remaley, then a sergeant with the Palmer Police Department, and Tim Jessen, a Wasilla police officer, pulled Wilson over at Trunk Road and Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

They found two police scanners, a pistol, handcuffs, a K-Bar knife, a CB radio, and those yellow and green strobes.

“Kenneth Wilson stated to WPD Officer Jessen that he did not make a traffic stop using his vehicle and lights and denied telling anyone he was an undercover trooper,” Peterson wrote.

He told officers he was starting a business helping stranded motorists and that’s why he had all those lights in his vehicle.

It appears by examining court records that Wilson didn’t serve any jail time on either of the prior cases, both of which ended with no contest pleas.

He was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility after his most recent arrest.

He was set to have a bail hearing Thursday, and details regarding the outcome were not available as of press time.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.