JAY – A local woman pleaded not guilty Monday to impersonating a Jay police officer and setting up a fake Facebook page using a photo of the Police Department’s cruiser from its Facebook page.

Andrea Berard, 36, of Jay was arrested Friday night on misdemeanor charges of false public alarm or report, unsworn falsification, impersonating a public servant and violating condition of release for an unrelated matter, police Detective Michael Mejia said Tuesday.

Berard pleaded not guilty to all charges during a videoconference from the Franklin County jail in Farmington to a judge in a South Paris Court, according to court documents.

Police were investigating a report that Berard made in regard to a sexual assault, which turned out to be a false allegation, he said. She had told Sgt. Russell Adams about the assault and then put it in writing in a report, Mejia said.

She was impersonating Adams on the Facebook page and started contacting witnesses via the page, he said. A witness reported being contacted and told Police Chief Richard Caton IV about it, Mejia said.

Mejia found the page, he said.

Berard was released from jail on $1,000 cash bail Monday, according to a corrections officer.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net