Southern Indiana deputy accused of posing as New Albany police officer in email

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Harrison County Sheriff's deputy is facing felony charges for allegedly posing as a New Albany police officer in an email that claimed officer misconduct.

An email was sent out in May 2022 to officers at Indiana State Police Post in Sellersburg, the Floyd County Prosecutor's office, the Floyd County Courts system, and news stations with claims of misconduct at the New Albany Police Department, according to ISP.

"I received that email myself stating, you know, information that was going on at New Albany Police Department that was possibly not being looked into properly. So obviously it raised our eyebrows, you know, that's not an email that we want to receive," said Sgt. Carey Huls, with Indiana State Police. "So, the Floyd County prosecutor's office contacted us. Our detectives were already looking into it as far as contacting the prosecutor about this email."

The email allegedly claimed that the sender had reported the allegations, but the issues were not being addressed. The email also included a phone number and information about the officer's family.

Following the email, ISP began investigating the allegations about the department and contacted the New Albany police officer who was listed as the sender.

That officer told police he had not sent the email, and "had no knowledge of such communication being sent," according to Indiana State Police.

Police then started investigating identity deception, which led to an arrest warrant issued for 37-year-old Ralph Weaver on Monday.

Weaver, who turned himself in on Monday afternoon according to ISP, is currently a sheriff's deputy with the Harrison County Sheriff's Department. He previously worked for the New Albany Police Department.

According to court documents, not long after the email was sent, Weaver called an officer with ISP and asked him if he had heard about the email.

That officer told Weaver state police were investigating identity deception and impersonating a police officer. Weaver allegedly asked "if there could be a crime of impersonating a police officer if a police officer was the one who sent the email," according to court documents.

Weaver is charged with identity deception and obstruction of justice.

"They're both felony charges," said Huls. "So obviously that's very serious. As far as felonies are concerned, both level six felonies, which is the lowest level of felony charges, but still, a felony is a very serious charge."

After turning himself in, Deputy Weaver was booked and arrested just like any other suspect in a criminal case.

"We obviously don't like to see it when anybody breaks the law and we have to investigate — however, that's what happens in this world. But to see a police officer or somebody who has sworn an oath to protect and serve the public, you know, we don't like that against our own profession," said Huls. "So we take it to heart when something like that happens, and we don't like to see it, but at the same time, we're going to show the public that we're going to be aboveboard and investigate everything to the fullest that we can."

Investigators say Deputy Weaver resigned from New Albany Police as the result of an internal investigation.