ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — Monday afternoon, the Bernalillo County’s District Attorney’s office pushed to keep an accused deputy impersonator behind bars until trial.
Investigators alleged 26-year-old Rico Treshon Dukes posed as a deputy on Tinder to find dates and visited his old high school, Volcano Vista High, while armed to impress his old teachers. Prosecutors argued if Rico Dukes is let out of jail, he’d keep pretending he’s a deputy.
“The state is asking this court to detain Rico Dukes because he impersonated a peace officer in a manner that was predatory, menacing, and dangerous to the community,” said State Prosecutor Robert Hart.
Luckily for the State, District Court Judge Brett Loveless agreed to keep Dukes behind bars.
Dukes’ detention hearing comes after being arrested earlier this month as the Bernalillo Sheriff’s Office was made aware Dukes’ had been impersonating a sheriff’s deputy to go on dates on Tinder while wearing BCSO garb in his profile pics. Two days after Dukes’ initial arrest, he gained a second charge filed against him after BCSO learned he had brought a gun onto school grounds while visiting a former teacher at Volcano Vista High School while dressed as a deputy.
During Monday’s detention hearing, Dukes’ attorney called for the 26-year-old’s release.
“Mr. Dukes does not pose a threat to the safety of the community. I think the jig is up. I don’t think he is going to be playing a cop anymore,” said Dukes’ attorney, Sam Ashman.
Dukes faces felony charges for impersonating a police officer and bringing a gun onto school grounds. A trial date has not yet been set. Over the past couple of years, Dukes has also been accused of domestic violence, stalking, and failing to pay child support.
