While some of the 1,200 residents of Gerald, a rural Missouri community about 70 miles west of St. Louis, might harbor dreams of fame, they certainly never sought the notoriety that came to them when it was discovered that the man they believed to be a bona fide law enforcement agent was a complete fraud.

Reminiscent of a scene from "Blazing Saddles," Bill Jakob, 36, rode into town with badge and gun in hand and easily convinced the town's law enforcement and leadership that he was ready to help police win victory in their war on methamphetamine.

Not quite another "Petticoat Junction," this village did have problems and Jakob had immediate success by making his own rules.  Those he arrested say it was routine for Jakob to use excessive force and kick down doors.  He is even alleged to have gained a confession by putting a gun to a man's head and threatening to shoot while the man's child watched.

Houses were ransacked and people, in handcuffs on their front lawns, named names. To some, like Mayor Otis Schulte, who considers the county around Gerald "a meth capital of the United States," the drug scourge seemed to be fading at last.

However, Jakob was not a cop, he was an unemployed truck driver with a criminal record who had previously filed for bankruptcy. No one really knows what motivated Jakob, and his defense lawyer has offered little explanation. Though it is not yet completely clear how many people were arrested with Jakob's assistance, 17 people have filed suit for wrongful arrest and/or raids of their homes and 12 more are considering litigation.

One has to wonder if Barney Fife was in charge of this operation.  Even cursory checks of public records would have revealed a checkered past including sex with an underage girl and a $600,000 decision against him in the death of a 6-year-old boy who ran onto a rural highway and was hit by Jakob's pickup truck.

"He had credentials. He had a badge. He had a phone number to call for verification," said Gerald Mayor Otis Schulte. "I don't know what else we could have done."

Residents were convinced since Jakob, known as "Sergeant Bill," looked the part. His hair was chopped short, he wore military-style boots, pants with pockets running down the legs and his stocky chest filled a black T-shirt that read "Police."   He also drove an off-white Ford Crown Victoria decked out with police radios and internal flashing lights, residents said.

But after a reporter for the local weekly newspaper investigated this sudden increase in methamphetamine arrests, Gerald's antidrug campaign abruptly fell apart after less than five months.

When Jakob's deception came to light, agents from the FBI and the Missouri Highway Patrol descended on Gerald's tiny City Hall. Because he was never a police officer, all the arrests he made without warrants were illegal.

Eventually, the arrestor became the arrested in mid-May.  He has not yet been charged with a crime but a federal indictment is expected later this month. The mayor hopes Jakob's case will be a cautionary tale to other communities.