"On the 18th day of May 1998, at approximately 7:35 am, the above-named defendant did falsely impersonate a law enforcement officer and steal $14.50 worth of gasoline.
On 6-11-98 at approx 1515 hrs, I, Officer J. Ross, met with complainant K.J. Wari at 1000 W. Colonial Dr (Mobil Gas Station) in reference to a theft. Wari is the owner of the listed Mobil Gas Station, and he along with witness / cashier Krissandra Singleton advised me of the following in sworn written statements:
On 5-18-98, at approx 0735 hrs Singleton was working behind the cash register at the Mobil station. She noticed that a dark blue car that she thought to be possibly a Ford Taurus pulled parallel with Pump #2 and attempted to pump some gas. The first thing Singleton noticed about the car was that it bore a large blue light on the dashboard, and a long antenna near the trunk. Singleton thought that this car was possibly an undercover or unmarked police car. Defendant exited the driver side of the car and was wearing blue jeans and boots. Through the store window Singleton saw that Defendant was having difficulty activating the pump with his gas card. Feeling that he was probably a law enforcement officer, Singleton trusted Defendant enough to manually activate the pump from inside the store. Defendant then pumped 12.11 gallons of gas into the car he arrived in. Singleton advised that the total price of the gas came to $14.50.
When Defendant entered the store to pay, Singleton saw that he was wearing a badge on his belt that she thought looked very similar to a sheriff's star. She also advised that he was wearing dark shades, and had brown hair. Initially Defendant presented Singleton with a prepaid “Mobil go" card as payment. For an unknown reason Singleton learned that payment using that particular card had been denied, so she advised a to present another form of payment. Defendant told Singleton that he had no other way to pay for the gasoline. Singleton advised Defendant that he was required to pay her and that she was not permitted to allow him to leave the premises without paying for the gas.
Defendant then advised Singleton that he was a police officer and that he knew Singleton could not hold him. Singleton advised me that she knew a police officer would not pump gasoline, and then not be able to provide some type of payment so she requested that Defendant provide her with his state gas card. Defendant told her that he was "Called on the job" early that morning and that he left the house without it. Singleton advised me that her initial instinct was to call the police, however she decided to phone Wari at home first. Wari advised Singleton via telephone to copy down all of the Defendant’s personal information and then allow him to leave. Wari also spoke to Defendant on the phone, who identified himself as Jeremy Charles Dewitte. Defendant told Wari over the phone that Wari could deal with this problem in one of two ways: Defendant suggested that Wari could notify the police and phone this report in as a as drive-off, in which case he would merely be "slapped on the hand by his Supervisor,” or Wari could allow Defendant to return on the same date by 1700 hrs, and provide payment for the gas. Believing that Defendant was truly a law enforcement officer Wari agreed to the latter. Defendant then hung up the phone and provided Singleton with his full name, home address, date of birth, Florida driver's license number and home telephone number. He also told Singleton that his work telephone number is 424-2414, it should be noted that the telephone number to the Orlando Police Dept. Complaint Desk is 246-2414. Singleton advised that Defendant then entered his car and left the premises and was last seen driving eastbound on W. Colonial Drive.
Due to the fact that Defendant’s birthday is 2-10-80, he is ineligible to be sworn as a law enforcement officer in the State of Florida. Therefore any claim that Defendant made in regards to being a police officer was false. Wari stated to me that the only reason he waited nearly three weeks to report this incident was because he believed that Defendant was truly a police officer, and was expecting payment for the gasoline at any time. As of this date, Defendant still had not returned to the store nor had he made any attempt to pay for the gasoline. Wari advised me that he would like to press charges for the theft of the gasoline on behalf of Mobil. Singleton advised that she knows Defendant’s identity. (It should be noted that Defendant is listed as suspect in a similar case under OPD case # 98-11413). Although Defendant reportedly did not claim to be a police officer in that case, he did have at-large charges filed on him for theft of gasoline from another Mobil gas station. It should also be noted that Dewitte is listed as a witness in ORD case 98- 200039. In that case, Dewitte claimed to be employed as a security guard at the Palms Apartments in the 1400 block of Mercy Drive. [ed. This guy is nuts]
Singleton remembered that as Defendant drove away, she obtained the Florida license tag [illegible] from the vehicle Defendant was driving. The tag is currently registered to Defendant at the listed address, however, it is assigned to a Blue 1990 Dodge Shadow 4-door. Due to the above-mentioned facts, along with the sworn statements of both Singleton and Wari, I developed probable cause to charge Defendant with falsely impersonating a law enforcement officer and theft.
On 6-25-98, at approx 1515 hrs, I Ofc. J. Ross, along with Deputy Sheriff Rees of OCSO attempted to make contact with Defendant at his residence. Upon arrival, I saw blue 4-door Dodge Shadow bearing Florida tag PC66L parked in the driveway of Defendant's residence. It bore flashing lights in the windshield and rear window, both in strobe and rotating format. The vehicle's trunk also bore 3 large metal antennas. The tag is a Police Athletic League ("PAL") tag. Upon making contact with Defendant he was immediately placed under arrest without incident. Upon placing my handcuffs on Defendant an unknown white male claiming to be Defendant's step father yelled from inside Defendant's house "Jeremy you're a fucking liar you told me that Mobil was the last one!"
Although Defendant initially denied any knowledge of a problem at Mobil he later completed a sworn written statement after a post-Miranda interview. His statement admitted that he did not pay for the gasoline and has not paid since the date of the incident. He also admitted to displaying a gold Oviedo Police Explorer badge when Singleton requested an alternate form of payment. Defendant included in his post-Miranda statement that he vaguely recalled his statement to Singleton upon showing her the badge. He told me that he either identified himself as a "police explorer" or a "police officer explorer," but he was not sure which. As Defendant was escorted to my patrol car Defendant's "stepfather" handed me Defendant's wallet, which he stated contained Defendant's driver’s license. Before I could allow the wallet to enter CBO with the remainder of his property I had to search it for contraband. Upon opening the wallet, I saw that it contained a gold badge that bore the lettering "Oviedo FL Police Explorer." The wallet and the badge were seized and entered into evidence.
Due to the fact that Defendant's vehicle was used during the commission of a felony, the vehicle was seized for forfeiture. So that the vehicle could be towed I inventoried its condition and contents. Behind the driver's seat, on the floor, was a blue plastic box. Inside the box was an unloaded Smith & Wesson Model 686 revolver. Also in the box were 6 (six) .38 caliber rounds, and two speedloaders. For safekeeping, the box and all of its contents were entered into OPD property + evidence. Defendant was charged as stated."
