It was a small town overrun by meth, until a new sheriff came to town — a federal agent who immediately started ransacking houses, cuffing people and naming names. It seemed like the town of Gerald, MO, known as "a meth capital of the United States" was getting a big makeover of the law and order variety. Except for one tiny problem: the "law" part of that equation wasn't exactly legal.
Known by the locals as "Sergeant Bill," the new officer assured residents that no search warrants were needed because he worked for the Feds. After the local weekly paper made a couple of inquiries into the matter, the reign of justice by Sergeant Bill, crumbled. The Sergeant wasn't any kind of federal agent — Bill, it seems, is actually Bill A. Jakob, an unemployed trucking company owner from a few towns over. To see the rest of Sergeant Bill's story, read more.
The tour of duty of faux-agent Bill has left the town of Gerald in an uproar. Three of the five police officers have been fired, and the mayor is facing impeachment — not to mention multimillion-dollar civil rights lawsuits pending. Bill is likely facing charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer, and questions abound as to why someone would take on the job of cleaning up a town for free?
Sergeant Bill's lawyer says that the events tumbled out of some "errors in judgement, but that the results weren't necessarily bad: “It was an innocent evolution, where he helped with one minor thing, then one more on top of that, and all of the sudden, everyone thought he was a federal agent. I’m not saying this was legal or lawful. But look, they were very, very effective while he was present. I don’t think Gerald is having the drug problem they were having. I’ve heard from some residents who were thrilled that he was there.”
The residents who weren't so thrilled include one local man who was handcuffed in his front yard, and has yet to be charged with any crime — though his reputation has already been found guilty.
What would drive a man to try to clean up a town's drug problem — sans badge or paycheck? Is vigilante justice always bad?
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You know, I believe there's some corruption in my city hall, I think I'll just go over there and arrest some city employees! See you on the six o'clock news! I'll be the one shot to death on the steps of city hall.