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A Polson man accused of posing as a two-girl federal law enforcement officer last month has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge stemming from the encounter.
Pernell Dionne, 36, was arraigned August 30 in Lincoln County District Court on a single count of identity theft of an official. An omnibus hearing is scheduled for November 1 and a pre-trial conference will follow on November 29.
Authorities arrested Dionne on August 7 after responding to a report of a man making inappropriate contact with children near the Libby Creek Bridge. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Assistant Derek Breiland was the first on the scene and found Dionne sitting on a railing, court documents show.
Dionne reportedly told Breiland he was sitting under the bridge when two girls approached him. The couple offered him food, which he took, he told the MP.
Dionne thought they seemed put off by him. He told Breiland he showed the girls a badge and assured them he was a U.S. Marshal and Deputy Sheriff, court documents show.
None of this was true, Breiland wrote in an affidavit.
“The badge is fake and Dionne is not associated with any law enforcement agency,” wrote Breiland, who seized the badge.
Dionne “seemed shocked” by the revelation that he was not associated with the police, according to Breiland. Dionne reportedly said he believed he “was a cop” because his grandfather served in the US military.
Breiland took Dionne to the Lincoln County Detention Center. He was originally being held on $ 5,000 bail.
Impersonating a public servant is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $ 5,000.
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