Troy man who posed as Clark County firefighter pleads guilty

By Nancy Bowman, Contributing Writer

A Troy man who police said posed as a firefighter and forged documents pleaded guilty Monday to two felony forgery charges in Miami County Common Pleas Court.

Jeremy Aldrich, 25, waived a grand jury’s consideration of allegations against him and made the plea before Judge Jeannine Pratt. He could face up to a year in prison on each of the charges.

TRENDING: Animal welfare groups want crackdown on puppy mills

He was arrested by Troy police in November on charges of forgery and tampering with records.

Sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 21.

A Troy police officer reported he started checking into Aldrich when he saw a Ford Crown Victoria with red and white flashing lights on the roof while the officer was investigating a wreck on West Main Street near Interstate 75 in November. After more checks, the officer reported he was told by a police captain that firefighters had reported seeing the car show up at ambulance calls in town and that the driver claimed to be with the Springfield Twp. Fire Department in Clark County.

Additional checks found that the driver allegedly had said he worked for another department when police had contact with him during an incident at his place of employment earlier in 2017. Police said they were unable to verify any employment by Aldrich by a fire department or any required certifications.

TRENDING: Dennis Kucinich running for Ohio governor against 6 other Democrats

Aldrich was arrested later in November, and police said they found a firefighter turnout coat, scanner, medical shears, handcuff case, vehicle lockout kit and a BB gun a among other items in his car. They said Aldrich admitted to forging the signature of a Clark County fire official to obtain the special license plates. The second forgery charge involved a fake ID. A charge of tampering with records was dismissed as part of a plea deal.

In a letter to the court in late November, Aldrich wrote that he knew what he did was wrong.

“I did it not to hurt people, but to help them. I would often stop on the highway to help someone who was broken down and I said I was on the department, show my ‘badge’ and ID so they knew was was there to help, which usually put them at ease,” he said.

He also wrote that he always wanted to be a firefighter and that by attempting to help others, “it made me feel better.”