NEW ULM — A 28-year-old Sleepy Eye man accused of posing as a probation agent faces seven charges filed in Brown County District Court Feb. 17.

Nicholas D. Martinka, 112 Southdale St. S.E., Sleepy Eye, was charged with five counts of felony 2nd-degree cellular phone counterfeiting, felony harassment-aggravated violations-by false impersonation and gross misdemeanor harassment-causes or reasonably expects to cause substantial emotional distress to another person. A Zoom hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 14.

According to court documents, Sleepy Eye Police received a report Dec. 20, 2022 of Martinka calling a victim and posing as Brown County Probation Agent Portner, in an attempt to locate the victim.

Sleepy Eye Police Investigator Shawn Bohnen called agent Portner who confirmed and explained the impersonation, saying she received a missed call from the B & L Bar phone number and the victim’s phone number.

Agent Portner said because of the missed calls, she called the victim to her office to explain the missed calls she got. Agent Portner said the victim told her she never called Agent Portner and Martinka was making phone calls using a phone number spoofing application on his cell phone and showed Agent Portner her cell phone log, which showed that Martinka called the victim five consecutive times, then Brown County Probation called her twice.

Agent Portner said on or about Nov. 9, 2022, she received a text message from Martinka apologizing for calling her so late, that Martinka said he was making the calls because he and victim were having an argument and he did not know her location.

Investigator Bohnen called the victim who said she received phone calls from Martinka presenting to be Brown County Probation.

On Dec. 21, 2022, Investigator Bohnen got an email from Agent Portner containing Agent Portner’s notes related to the text messages and phone calls. Investigator Bohnen noted that Agent Portner’s phone listed Martinka’s phone number as different than recent contact Sleepy Eye Police had with Martinka from a different phone number.

Investigator Bohnen met with the victim on Dec. 21, 2022 who said from August 2022 to December 2022, she was giving Martinka a chance to straighten up but he became upset multiple times because she would not come straight home after work. The victim said Martinka would call her multiple times from different phones he has and the calling number showed up as her probation officer, agent Munson.

The victim said Martinka also called her and the calling number showed up as her current probation officer.

Agent Portner said Martinka even left her three voicemails as Agent Portner. She played the voicemails and emailed screenshots of her cell phone dated Oct. 27, 2022 at 12:10 a.m., 11:01 p.m. Nov. 3, 2022 and 9:06 p.m. Nov. 8, 2022.

The victim told Investigator Bohnen about the Nov. 8, 2022 incident and said after work, she didn’t feel safe going home, so she went to her friend’s house. The victim said on that evening, she got 20 to 30 phone calls from Martinka and was unable to estimate how many text messages she received from Martinka on Nov. 8, 2022.

Investigator Bohnen saw eight text messages that Martinka sent the victim via social media applications and Messenger text plus three calls Martinka made to the victim the evening of Nov. 8 2022 and early morning hours of Nov. 9, 2022.

The victim told Investigator Bohnen she felt “anxious” and “scared” the evening of Nov. 8, 2022. She felt Martinka called her as her probation officer to control her and make her come home.

A search warrant was executed Jan. 5, 2023 for Martinka’s cell phones at his residence.

Martinka provided passcodes to Investigator Bohnen and said he didn’t mean to harass the victim, just get a hold of her.

Investigator Bohnen reviewed Martinka’s cell phones and created reports for dates tied to the victim receiving phone calls from Oct. 26, 2022 through Nov. 29, 2022.