Alleged Musk police impostor in custody

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - The Muskegon County Sheriff's Department has found a man who impersonated a police officer and allegedly robbed two people inside their home Sunday morning.

Dean Allen Dilts Sr. of Moorland Township was in police custody Monday evening, according to Sheriff Dean Roesler.

In the early hours of Sunday, police said, Dilts wore a baseball cap with "Police" written on the front and went to a home in the 3000 block of Ensley Road in Sullivan Township.

He allegedly told the homeowner he had a search warrant for the home and said he was looking for another man -- later identified as Dilts' brother. The homeowner told the fake police officer that the man wasn't there.

But the impostor, holding a gun, ordered the homeowner and a woman into the basement and told them to handcuff themselves. The woman was able to escape the basement and locked the door behind her.

The impostor then left the home and drove away in a stolen Chevrolet Tahoe that was later found in someone else's driveway.

The sheriff confirmed Dilts' brother previously owned the home on Ensley Road.

The 6-foot, 220-pound Dilts, 47, was considered armed and dangerous.

Dilts has spent time in prison for a vehicular manslaughter charge, armed robbery and weapons offenses.

Dilts pleaded guilty in three separate court cases within two weeks in May 1990:

• On May 15, he pleaded guilty to armed robbery, felony firearms, stealing a vehicle, felony escape while awaiting trial in Newaygo County and was sentenced to two to four years in prison.
• On May 21, he pleaded guilty to perjury in court proceedings and was sentenced to two to 15 years.
• On May 30, he pleaded guilty in Muskegon County Circuit Court to fleeing a police officer and was sentenced to one year in jail.

Ten years later he was back in trouble:

• In September 2000, he pleaded guilty in Muskegon Circuit Court to stealing a vehicle and was sentenced to two to 7.5 years in prison
• In October 2000, he was found guilty in Newaygo County Circuit Court to stealing a vehicle and being a habitual offender (second offense), sentenced to two to 7.5 years

And in December 2003, he pleaded no contest to homicide-manslaughter with a motor vehicle and sentenced to 7.5 to 15 years.

Dilts was released from prison a month before this latest incident.

If you have any more information, you are asked to call the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Department at 231.724.6308 or Silent Observer at 231.72.CRIME (722-7463).