Iowa man allegedly posed as an officer on social media to contact a person awaiting trial
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said Kauble used a fake account to message a person awaiting trial. That was incorrect.
The article has also been changed to reflect the correct spelling of the names of two defendants in a separate case.
An Iowa City man was arrested after allegedly posing as a University of Iowa police officer on social media.
Daniel Kauble, 29, is charged with misdemeanor identity theft, tampering with a witness and third-degree harassment for a social media and email account he created using University of Iowa Police Officer Ian Mallory's name.
The saga began after a jury found Isadora Kippes and Elizabeth Jorgensen guilty of disorderly conduct on Feb. 8, 2024, following a protest on the University of Iowa campus. However, the jury did not agree that the pair were guilty of fifth-degree criminal mischief.
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Disorderly conduct case sparks impersonation
Kauble allegedly created fake accounts the night after the verdict, establishing a profile on Google's email platform, Gmail, and another profile on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
Criminal complaints allege that Kauble used the accounts to "disparage, annoy, harass, and engender public contempt" of Mallory, who testified at the joint trial for Kappes and Jorgenson. Mallory arrested the pair after they participated in campus protests in April and October 2023.
Court documents said Kauble messaged another person Mallory had arrested who was awaiting trial shortly after creating the accounts. In his message, Kauble allegedly said he hoped the tweets sent from the phony Mallory account on X − @IanMallory4Iowa − were making Mallory "hella mad."
Kauble's fake accounts, according to the complaint, were "intended to harass the victim, both individually and in retaliation for his testimony in a criminal trial against persons Mallory had arrested and testified as a witness at trial."
The criminal complaint also alleges that Kauble received "the benefit of the satisfaction he derived from disparaging, annoying, (and) harassing" the detective.
Posts from the account are no longer available online or in internet archives.
A no-contact order was issued by the court earlier this week.
A trial date has not yet been set.
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Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa man arrested for posing as UIPD officer on social media
