Florida man flops at imitating a cop making a traffic stop, sheriff’s office says
MONDAY UPDATE: Farmer’s back in jail after being rearrested Monday. Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that last week’s post on Farmer brought forth three people with similar stories from 2017 and 2018. After three additional counts of impersonating a law enforcement officer and one count of stalking, he’s being held on $10,000 bond.
A Florida man’s habit of dealing with traffic by impersonating an officer of the law ended when he ran into an officer of the law, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Thomas Farmer, 64, drove a red truck with a special lights, radar, a specialty license plate and other elements that looked like a patrol vehicle to the guy driving behind him on Tuesday. As that guy was sheriff’s detective Sgt. Todd Smith in an unmarked VCSO car, he’s more than familiar with the characteristics of a patrol vehicle.
“At one point, the driver flashed a white light var, as if trying to conduct a traffic stop on Smith,” the sheriff’s office said. “As Sgt. Smith drove through [the city of] Pierson, the truck pulled beside Smith and began talking via his pubic address system, as if giving Smith a verbal warning.”
Smith, the one with the juice to make a traffic stop, decided to make a traffic stop.
Once he confirmed Farmer wasn’t an police officer or Volusia County deputy, Smith warned Farmer his behavior counted as impersonating a law enforcement officer and he needed to stop. Farmer left with a warning.
Smith found this wasn’t Farmer’s first warning. Or, his second.
Two other times Farmer “was attempting to pretend to be a police officer and influence traffic,” VCSO said.
Farmer was arrested Tuesday on a charge of false impersonation of law enforcement. He was released after posting $2,500 bond.
This story was originally published March 24, 2019 at 12:04 PM.
