Fake cop meets real cops, jail the next stop

That call set off a police investigation tracing Downs' activity over the previous two-plus days, in which Downs allegedly held himself out as a sheriff's deputy multiple times and injected himself into security situations at hot spots across downtown, both brandishing and taking weapons from people in the process.

Downs' alleged exploits imitating law enforcement are detailed in a warrant for his arrest on a charge of impersonating an officer, a felony.

The simulating spree is believed to have begun May 17 when staff working special event security at the city's Main Street music festival told police that Downs explicitly introduced himself as a Mesa County sheriff's deputy and was at the Twisted Turtle, 436 Main St., "antagonizing fights throughout the night," which security staff were compelled to calm down.

The next day Downs again plainly introduced himself at the Twisted Turtle as a  sheriff's deputy, convinced staff to let him help with security, and proceeded to confiscate knives from at least two people, according to investigators.

Tracing Downs' activity through witness accounts, police learned that he at one point interjected himself in a fight in front of Quincy Bar, 609 Main St., where he pulled a subject from the fight, announced he was "a cop" and sparked a stun gun in front of him.

He also showed up at a dispatch call for an intoxicated man downtown, telling officers he heard the call on the radio and came to help out.

He told officers that "he needed to 'Baker Act' (commit to a mental facility) the intoxicated subject," according to Downs' arrest affidavit, and that he was "with Montrose County, and I'm transferring up here. I'm going to start patrol next week."

It's not clear when Downs was arrested, but when he was he had a handcuff box, radio and badge holder in his truck. He also allegedly allowed a search of where he lives and investigators found the "MCSO" hat in question there.

Downs appeared Monday in Mesa County Court, where a personal-recognizance bond was set due to limited criminal history and low level of offense.