CPD officer recognized for tracking suspect who was impersonating coroner to lure women

An investigation by a Columbus police officer with a penchant for investigations led to the arrest of a man accused of impersonating Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan.

Officer Tyler McCrea was recognized by the Columbus Police Department with the Officer of the Month honor for September 2018. It is the first honor for the 26-year-old officer who has almost two years of experience.

“It was actually unexpected,” McCrea said of the honor. “I was very grateful to get that honor. I didn’t think it was something that would happen. It wasn’t something I was thinking about when I was doing the investigation. I always have been interested in law enforcement and knew I would kind of get into it.”

In a release, police said the investigation started after McCrea was called to the Public Safety Center about 1:30 p.m. Aug. 8 to talk to a woman about a person impersonating the coroner. McCrea thought there was more to the case than impersonating a public officer, even though it had been in the news.

With information on the suspect’s vehicle, clothing and conduct provided by the woman, police had cause to believe the suspect was using the ruse in an attempt to lure women. McCrea convinced his sergeant that he could conduct the investigation after learning the case hadn’t been assigned.

The officer credits his supervisor, Police Sgt. Derick Solt, with giving him time from his patrol duties to investigate the case.

“I got to take it from start to finish,” McCrea said. “It wasn’t anything I was thinking about. I was enjoying the process.”

The officer conducted followup investigations on the information that led to McCrea checking for other possible victims.

The officer found another case with similar circumstances already reported to police. After a series of interviews on the phone and in person with other witnesses, McCrea conducted photo lineups and collected enough evidence to arrest a suspect.

Warrants were issued for a 36-year-old Columbus man. He was taken into custody within days on two charges with help from the department’s Fugitive Squad.

McCrea is new to the force, but he was still able to locate a suspect.

“Officer McCrea eagerly took on the responsibility and thoroughly investigated these cases to their conclusion,” said Solt, his supervisor in the Bureau of Patrol Services.

McCrea said police work is definitely going to be his career.

“I like it in Columbus,” he said. “I like working for the Columbus Police Department. I want to further my career with the department. Investigations are definitely what I’m looking into. That is my goal.”

Despite some talk nationally about law enforcement, McCrea said there are still a lot of young, upcoming officers who really want to protect their community.

“That goes beyond me,” he said.

In another honor, former police officer Brittany Contreras was selected Employee of the Month for her work as a Geographic Information Systems technician. She prepared a “Wanted Persons” bulletin with 148 suspects between April 23 and Sept. 28. The information was made available to the public and the local media.

Since the first bulletin was released, about 218 people have been arrested. The arrests can’t be directly linked to the bulletin but it has created a hyper-awareness for officers in the field and for residents.

This story was originally published October 27, 2018 at 2:26 PM.