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Man accused of impersonating a cop across Central Florida
The man has since bonded out.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Suspect Jeremy Dewitte, 40, walked out of jail on bond and said that he is being falsely accused of impersonating an officer.
Dewitte said he has been doing funeral escorts for ten years, working with law enforcement and never had a problem till recently.
He said that "it’s becoming a problem and it’s going to jeopardize my business greatly. So here’s the question, when Sheriff Demings was in office and it was accepted, as the word I want to use, why now is it not accepted?“
A spokesperson for Mayor Demings said that he did not want to comment since he is no longer Sheriff. However, FOX 35 did find a warning letter from 2015 where Demings told Dewitte to slow down and drive safer.
Dewitte went before a judge on Thursday.
According to court records, during a funeral procession, Dewitte slapped the front fender and hood of a vehicle, then put his hand on his gun holster in a threating manner. That driver turned out to be an off-duty officer. In another case, a woman called 911 concerned that Dewitte was a fake cop after he allegedly forced her to pull to the side of the road with lights and sirens. Officers said that he is not legally allowed to do this, but Dewitt says he is.
Windermere Police recently arrested Dewitte for impersonating an officer. Windermere Police Chief Dave Ogden said that “it is absolutely clear that they are trying to impersonate police officers."
When they pulled him over, they discovered handcuffs, a gun, badge, pepper-spray, and a bulletproof vest. There was also video from Dewitte’s helmet cam, showing him in Orange, Osceola and even Volusia County. In the video, you can see traffic blocked on 95 as corvettes drive by. You hear someone that sounds like Dewitte say “Yhis is a funeral for someone that owns a Corvette, right? When we made contact with Daytona Beach PD, they already knew what we were doing.”
Chief Craig Capri of the Daytona Beach Police Department said that he has "never seen this guy. We don't know him, we wouldn’t tolerate this kind of stuff.”
He went on to call his actions disturbing. He said that "we’re gonna check into this company and find out what kind of business they’re running."
Records show Dewitte running the business as a convicted sex offender, someone who should not own a gun. However, Dewitte says his gun only shoots mace. He also claims that it was another worker who was actually seen on most of that helmet cam.