DETROIT – A Utica man's anger over a traffic ticket led to a series of events that ended with him pleading guilty to charges of using the Internet to bully a Clinton Township police officer.
Jeremy Wakeman was stopped and ticketed last year by Clinton Township Police Sgt. Michael Allis for making an illegal turn.
Clinton Township Police Chief Fred Posavetz said Wakeman turned to the Internet to vent his anger.
"For whatever reason, Mr. Wakeman was upset with this and decided it was the appropriate way to deal with that," Posavetz said.
Investigators said Wakeman created a Facebook page pretending to be Sgt. Allis.
He characterized Sgt. Allis as a "dirty cop" on the site.
Wakeman then began sending messages to Allis's friends and to Allis directly.
Police chief Posavetz said all those messages raised concerns.
"Mr. Wakeman went above and beyond what you can do legally in harassing. Very disrespectful and inappropriate to the point where Sgt. Allis felt threatened by it," Posavetz said.
Wakemen was charged and pleaded guilty in court. His plea will result in two years of probation. He was also ordered to undergo a mental evaluation and write a letter of apology to Sgt. Allis.
The police officer was reportedly satisfied with the sentence.
He did not want Wakeman to have to serve jail time.