Conn. man allegedly impersonates Bruins owner to get special treatment on tree work

Jeffrey Jacobs.Wilton, Conn. police

A Connecticut man was arrested in New York last week after allegedly impersonating Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs multiple times in efforts to get special treatment for removing a fallen tree, police said.

Jeffrey Jacobs, 37, allegedly called a tree company during a storm in February 2017 to request that it move a tree that had fallen on his Wilton, Conn., home. Jacobs told the company he was the owner of the Bruins, Wilton police Captain Rob Cipolla said.

Months later, when Jacobs had not yet paid his bill, the tree company sent the outstanding charge to the Bruins owner himself. Staff for Jeremy Jacobs — knowing that the Bruins owner did not have any connection to the Connecticut home — alerted police.

Police found Jeffrey Jacobs at his Wilton, Conn., home and gave him a warning, considering the outstanding debt to the tree company a civil issue, rather than criminal, Cipolla said.

But just a few months later, in November 2017, Jacobs was stopped by a Wilton police officer for a stop sign violation, and he once again tried skirting the ticket by impersonating Jeremy Jacobs.

“He told the officer, in an attempt to talk his way out of the ticket, that he was the owner of the Boston Bruins and later clarified by saying that his family owns the team,” Cipolla said, adding that Jeffrey Jacobs and Jeremy Jacobs are not related.

The officer gave him a ticket and then alerted detectives of Jacobs’s repeated attempt at the scam.

The detectives put together an arrest warrant for Jacobs on criminal impersonation and had been searching for him until last week, when he was once again pulled over for a traffic violation in New York.

New York State Police pulled him over Thursday in Duchess County, New York, and Jacobs waived extradition. He was taken to Wilton police headquarters and charged with criminal impersonation.

Jacobs was released after posting a $5,000 surety bond, and he is expected in court for his arraignment July 30.