- October 30, 2024
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Updated Sept. 24, 2021, to remove the name of the suspect. His charges were later dropped, and a judge approved the case to be expunged from the court record.
By: Brittany Kershaw
Public Affairs Manager, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shoplifting incident at the Publix at 4950 Belle Terre Parkway at 7 p.m. Friday, March 6. The suspect in the case had identified himself to Publix’s loss prevention officer as a U.S. Marshal.
The man had concealed two boxes of potatoes and a grouper fillet in his reusable shopping bag and passed all points of sale and began to exit the store. When the loss prevention officer stopped him, the man stated he did not have to pay for the items and identified himself as a U.S. Marshal.
The man then placed the shopping bag on the ground and exited the store. The loss prevention officer then approached the man in his vehicle in the parking lot where the man displayed a gold badge in a black holder that read “United States Marshal” on it.
Deputies located the man at his home on Hidden Treasure Drive where he denied all accusations. Once deputies made the man aware that the entire incident was captured on Publix’s surveillance cameras, he admitted to attempting to steal the food as well as identifying himself as a U.S. Marshal.
The man turned the badge over to deputies and admitted that he is not a sworn law enforcement officer and has no affiliation with the U.S. Marshals.
During the investigation, deputies noted a case from Oct. 28, 2019, where a deputy conducted a traffic stop on the man's vehicle for failing to stop at a stop sign. During that traffic stop the man told the Deputy he was a Federal Air Marshal.
“This guy took a minor shoplifting charge and turned it in to a felony by flashing a shiny gold badge trying to getaway with committing crimes,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Impersonating a law enforcement officer is a felony offense and will not be tolerated. I hope he learns his lesson. Our patrol units, PACE unit and crime analysts did a great job in stopping this guy before he did anything worse with his fake credentials.”
The man was arrested and taken into custody for false impersonation of a federal law enforcement officer, petit shoplifting and resisting a merchant. He was booked into the Flagler County Jail and released after posting a $3,500 bond.
The charges were later dropped, and the case was expunged, per a judge's order.
