Anderson man found guilty of impersonating Homeland Security officer and possessing Molotov cocktails

A federal jury has found Joshua W. Stearman, 42, of Anderson, guilty of unlawfully possessing incendiary bombs, commonly referred to as Molotov cocktails, and falsely impersonating an officer or employee of the United States.

According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, on December 12, 2023, at approximately 1:47 a.m., a police officer in Ingalls, was dispatched to an address that had recently been vandalized multiple times, including with fires set in the driveway and inside the mailbox at that address. Dispatch received a report of a suspicious man walking toward the house carrying something but who ran back to his red Toyota RAV4 when the house’s security lights came on.

The officer located the RAV4 and pulled it over. As the officer approached, Stearman pressed against the window his ID as well as an unknown government identification that included a government seal at the bottom. Repeatedly, Stearman claimed he was a Homeland Security Officer returning from a “mission.” Stearman was wearing black gloves with black duct tape around his wrists.

Read more: The Republic (Columbus, IN)