A West Palm Beach man accused of impersonating a police officer and false imprisonment has entered a not guilty plea.
Dressed in a blue sports coat, 19-year-old Cristian Leon sat beside his mother in court. For two months, he's been under house arrest for kidnapping and pretending to be a cop.
"These charges are serious," said the judge.
This morning, Leon's attorney asked the judge if he could leave his home to look for work and go to school.
"Not right now," said the judge. "I'll consider it in the future but not right now."
On April 2, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Cristian Leon, 19, after a woman said she was pulled over by a man dressed like a police officer. The woman said the man made inappropriate sexual comments and had a badge and a holstered gun.
After his picture was featured in the news, another woman called police to say that she recognized Leon.
She claimed that as she was walking in downtown West Palm Beach, a man wearing a police uniform pulled up next to her and asked her where she was going.
The woman replied that she was looking for a friend.
When Leon offered a ride, she says she got in his front passenger seat.
The alleged victim claims he identified himself as a police officer but didn’t give his name.
A short time later, according to a probable cause affidavit, she said he began making sexual comments and demanding oral sex.
The woman said she repeatedly refused and eventually he unlocked the car allowing her to leave.
"How is it that two women are making similar allegations," NewsChannel 5 asked Leon's attorney, Hector Rivera, in court today. "We can speculate as to why, there's many different reasons," he said. "They may know each other. I don't know. We're still looking into that."
Leon will remain under house arrest.
