This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged with impersonating a West Valley City police officer - sometimes while on dates with women - and stealing thousands of dollars from ATMs.
One of the women was the daughter of a Logan police detective, according to a search warrant affidavit filed this week in 3rd District Court.
Jeff Ipson told her he was an "undercover detective" for West Valley City and used his cell phone to call police dispatch, identifying himself as "Tango 41," the affidavit states.
Ipson also wore a police badge on his belt, drove a silver Ford Explorer equipped with emergency lights and sirens and a mounted laptop computer, and carried a hand-held radio, a concealed handgun and a Taser gun, which he may have used at least once, the affidavit states.
On several occasions, the woman told police, Ipson flashed his emergency lights and stopped and interviewed citizens.
The manager of Ipson's West Jordan apartment complex told police Ipson had identified himself as an officer and on one occasion responded to a fight at the complex, during which he used his Taser gun to subdue a person, the affidavit states.
West Valley City detective Robert Bobrowski said that incident has not been confirmed and is still under investigation.
Another woman told police she met the man on myspace.com and went on several dates with him during which he turned on his lights and sirens and initiated traffic stops on public roadways, according to the affidavit.
The stops were "for what he [Ipson] perceived to be moving violations," Bobrowski said.
Ipson - whose mother said he often ordered police equipment from law enforcement catalogues - told a detective that he was an armed security officer for Security Armored Express. Police discovered, however, that Ipson had been fired from the company and was the subject of an internal affairs investigation regarding the theft of money from automated teller machines, according to the affidavit.
Through his job, Ipson had access to combination codes for ATMs in Utah and Wyoming, according to the security company.
Ipson was arrested at his apartment on April 21 after he was seen taking money from an ATM in Cedar City, according to the affidavit.
He was initially booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of theft, impersonating an officer and carrying a loaded concealed weapon, jail records show, but has since been moved to the Iron County jail.
Bobrowski said Ipson was charged with impersonating an officer, a misdemeanor, in West Valley Justice Court. He also faces a second-degree felony theft charge in Iron County.
Because multiple police agencies are involved in Ipson's case, it has been forwarded to the Utah Attorney General's Office, which may file additional charges, Bobrowski said.