``If you have any interaction with this officer, please inform Father Bob,'' read the flier put up this winter at Oakland Park's All Saints Catholic Mission soup kitchen.

Above the cautionary words was a photo of a 5-foot-6, round-faced Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, Jonathan Morgan Bleiweiss. Stay away from him, warned Father Bob Caudill, after hearing dozens of complaints about how the rogue deputy was terrorizing the homeless who came to the mission.

About a month after the flier went up, BSO's Oakland Park District had a plaque engraved with Bleiweiss' name and the words ``Employee of the Year.'' The honor was bestowed on the deputy for his aggressive policing and professional attitude. He became a symbol of the gay community, an officer unafraid of being open about his sexual orientation, who represented BSO at gay pride events.

The chasm of the officer's character -- one rewarded by the powerful, but reviled by the powerless -- deepened this month when Bleiweiss was arrested by his own colleagues.

Bleiweiss, 29, stands accused of coercing at least eight men -- all undocumented immigrants -- into performing sex acts with him or risk deportation.

Around 5 a.m. each morning, a handful of men, mostly undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America, would gather before dawn on a remote side street of an Oakland Park apartment complex and wait for rides to construction jobs around the state.

A couple of months ago, they stopped waiting there. Many begged their rides to pick them up directly in front of their apartment unit. Others say they started taking the bus to wait for rides outside of city limits.

Rumors were spreading about a ``gringo'' sheriff's deputy who drove up and down that street, pulling over Hispanic-looking men. He'd ask for proof of residency and, if they didn't have it, ask for their ``leche,'' slang for oral sex.

``People were inside their house by 10 because they didn't want to be on the street when he was out,'' said Miguel Angel, 29, a dry wall contractor. ``They changed locations for where they got picked up for work . . . he was like a shark driving up and down that street.''

On April 23, a 30-year-old man was waiting for his ride to work when Bleiweiss stopped and asked for his identification, according to an arrest warrant. After showing his Mexican ID, Bleiweiss put him against his patrol vehicle to perform a pat down, the man told detectives.

During the pat down, the man told BSO that Bleiweiss reached into his pants, fondling him and making crude comments.

When the man's co-workers arrived to pick him up, Bleiweiss told them to come back in five minutes. The deputy pressed the man to give him a cellphone number.

The next morning Bleiweiss texted the man's cellphone: ``Que Pasa Amigo?''

The man did not respond.

On May 10, the same man was waiting for his ride in front of the apartment complex when Bleiweiss stopped him again, according to the arrest affidavit. This time, Bleiweiss forced the man to have oral sex.

The incident happened inside his patrol car, during the final minutes of the shift, before sunrise. Nearby, a sign reads ``Broward Sheriff's Office: For Your Protection.''

SOLID REPUTATION

Deputy's rise never hinted at abuse

Bleiweiss started his mission to serve and protect in 2002 when he joined the Broward Sheriff's Office. The New York native joined the force after graduating from St. Petersburg College with a 2.85 grade point average, records show. He easily passed his officer's certification, scoring over 90 percent in every section.

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