KALAMAZOO, Mich – A West Michigan sheriff's deputy suspended for photos found on MySpace.com said he was set up by the people he was trying to help.
The photos show people posing suggestively in and around his patrol vehicle.
Sheriff Michael Anderson said the deputy, whose name was not released, responded to a call on a disabled car. While waiting for a tow truck, the officer told investigators that he allowed several people to sit in the back of his vehicle and said the pictures were taken while he was distracted, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.
Unidentified men and women are pictured sitting in, and standing outside, the Chevrolet Tahoe. Another photo shows two women pretending to frisk a third female in front of the sport utility vehicle.
Anderson said he was contacted Monday by a man who is pictured in some of the suggestive photos.
"He called saying that he wanted me to understand that the officer was not aware of the photos being taken that were suggestive in nature," Anderson told the Kalamazoo Gazette. "He said that the officer did not know, and that he was sorry the officer was in trouble and that's why he was calling."
Anderson said the department will try to validate the story.
The deputy, suspended with pay pending an internal investigation, is not in any of the suggestive photos. But he does appear in two other photos, dressed in uniform while posing with a woman shown in some of the suggestive photos.
MySpace.com is a social networking Web site popular with teens and young adults.
MySpace.com is owned by News Corp., the parent company of FOXNews.com.