Freelance Photographer Accused Of Impersonating Firefighter/EMS Worker At Crete House Fire

CRETE, IL—A freelance news photographer is facing felony charges of impersonating a firefighter and emergency management while responding to a house fire on May 25, according to a Crete police report obtained by Patch.

Todd A. Sherman, 53, of Mokena, is charged with false personation of a firefighter and false personation of an emergency management worker when he is alleged to have responded to a fire with illegal emergency lights on his private vehicle.

Sherman is also facing a Class A misdemeanor, accused of speeding 35 mph over the speed limit when he was taken into police custody on June 25 after he was tied to an ongoing investigation related to his removal from a fire scene, police said.

During the early morning hours of June 23, a Crete police officer was monitoring traffic for speeding at Steger Road and IL 394, when he observed a Chevrolet Equinox traveling southbound at a high speed. Police said radar clocked the vehicle was going 91 mph in a posted 55-mph speed zone.

According to the report, the officer turned south on IL 394 and observed the vehicle briefly activating rear amber lights in the back window. The officer chased the Chevy Equinox, at times driving over 100 mph, attempting to catch up with the vehicle, the report said.

Police said it took approximately 7.5 miles before the officer was able to catch up with the SUV. The officer pulled the vehicle over at Dixie Highway just south of Eagle Lake Road.

As the officer approached the vehicle, he recognized the vehicle’s registration from an ongoing investigation from May 25. The officer engaged the driver, identified as Sherman.

When asked why he was driving so fast, police said Sherman replied, "I'm not going fast. I’m out of gas." Sherman explained he was having problems with his rear flashers that turned on when he closed the door. The officer asked Sherman if he had lights in the vehicle, to which Sherman replied, "Yeah." Sherman also told the officer that the lights were yellow, police said.

Sherman was asked to activate the lights on his vehicle, which the officer said were green and white. The officer said he observed the light to be two layers of LED lights facing the front of the Equinox, similar to interior lights used in emergency vehicles, according to the police report.

Asked if he was a part of any emergency agency with the Village of Crete, Sherman said he was not, according to the report. Sherman also allegedly refused to answer the officer whether he was allowed to operate the lights on a public roadway. The officer said Sherman shook his head no when asked if he was a firefighter, according to police. When the officer asked if he was a volunteer firefighter, police said Sherman replied, "You're stopping me for that?"

Sherman was advised he was part of an ongoing investigation that happened on a different day, police said.

Sherman was taken into custody and transported to the Crete police station for booking and processing. While at the scene, police said officers activated the emergency lights that were present on the Equinox.

Police said they observed red, green and white flashing LED lights on the front of the vehicle. All the lights were connected to control modules easily accessible to the driver of the vehicle.

A Will County grand jury returned an indictment on July 22, and the Will County State’s Attorney approved felony charges. In addition to the speeding offense, Sherman was also cited for operating an uninsured vehicle, improper use of registration and title, operating a motor vehicle with suspended registration for non-insurance, and possession/use of amber lights.

Prior Incident During House Fire

Police said Sherman was tied to an investigation that occurred at a house fire that occurred the afternoon of May 25. Crete police had been dispatched to a fire in the 24400 block of Patriot Court for a house fire. While there, the same officer who stopped Sherman for speeding was also on the scene and said he was asked by Crete firefighters to remove a man from the scene.

According to police, the officer said he saw the man standing between two houses in the middle of an active fire scene recording the fire, wearing a bunker jacket similar to ones firefighters were wearing.

The officer asked the man to leave and he complied. According to police, Crete emergency officers told the officer that a gray vehicle responded to the fire utilizing emergency lights. Video surveillance footage reportedly showed a gray Equinox with an unknown registration on the plate.

Police said video footage from a Crete traffic camera at Exchange and Sangamon Streets showed an Equinox with green, white and red flashing lights passing other vehicles responding to the fire call.

The next day, the same officer was asked to investigate the man who had been removed from the fire scene. According to police, the Crete emergency management director stated that he arrived at the intersection of Parliament and Independence and started blocking traffic. When one of the fire engines arrived, he moved his vehicle when a dark-colored SUV with red, white and green lights arrived behind the fire engine. The driver asked where the fire was and made a remark about being a firefighter and to let him through, according to the report.

When the emergency management officer mentioned it to the Crete fire chief, the fire chief purportedly said the man was not part of any agency in the area. According to the report, the Crete Fire Department identified the man as Sherman, saying he was a nuisance at fire scenes and not part of the fire department. The information was passed along to the Crete police chief.

The same vehicle the officer stopped in June was the same one that responded to the fire scene in May, police said. The officer also identified Sherman as the same man he asked to leave the fire.

Firedog Group Reacts

Following his June 25 arrest, Sherman was released on his own recognizance by Crete police because the charges were non-detainable. He was part of a group of news photographers for the Firedog Media Facebook page that provides free photos to first responders, which said in a statement that Sherman is one of the page’s founders.

"There are other owners and dedicated administrators who run the day-to-day of this group," it said. "Todd is a good person."

Will County court records show Sherman pleading guilty in 2013 to having red/white/oscillating/flashing lights on his vehicle in Will County.

Sherman was also arrested and accused of aggravated assault in July 2023 in the 4200 block of 167th Street on allegations he threatened an ATM technician with a BB gun that looked like a bullet-based pistol in Country Club Hills, according to news reports.

Court records show Sherman is due back in court on Sept. 9.