Ex-Miami-Dade cop allegedly impersonated police in Florida – NBC New York

A former Miami-Dade police officer has been arrested in Florida after authorities say he used his old badge to impersonate law enforcement.

Paul Fluty, 39, was stopped this week by Volusia County deputies on Shepherd Avenue in Deltona after they were called for a man parked in a driveway looking for a little girl, according to NBC affiliate WFLA.

Bodycam video shared by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office shows Fluty in the driver’s seat of an SUV parked in the driveway of a home when he is approached by a responding deputy.

Fluty says he’s with Miami-Dade and working with the U.S. Marshals to find a missing girl whose phone had pinged in the area. Then, he tells them that he is not in a marked patrol car because the missing child “runs from the cops.”

According to the sheriff’s office, he also reportedly said the girl had not “officially” been entered as missing.

“On further investigation, detectives determined Fluty is no longer a police officer and is not a member of any federal task force,” authorities said in a post on X.

The sheriff’s office said that Fluty was fired from Miami-Dade’s department earlier this year. It was not immediately clear what led to his termination.

The ex-officer was arrested on Monday, hours after his first interaction with deputies.

Bodycam video of the arrest shows him stepping out of a room and being told to get on the ground and put his hands to his side.

He complies and asks, “What’d I do?”

Later, he’s told: “We have a warrant, for impersonating an officer.”

“How was I impersonating an officer?” he asks as he’s led away.

Once they reach the police car, Fluty says: “You can Google my name. I got officer of the year and everything. I don’t know how I’m impersonating.”

Fluty was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on one count of impersonating a police officer.

The sheriff’s office stated that Fluty told deputies that he gave them his old credentials “out of habit” and “by mistake,” and that he “accidentally” claimed to be a police officer.

“Documentation gathered during the investigation suggests he is actually a private investigator who may have been in the area for an insurance investigation,” authorities said.

A May 2020 article from WSVN states that Fluty was named officer of the year by the Miami-Dade Police Department, now the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, after being shot and injured while trying to stop someone wanted for domestic battery.

He posted a $2,000 bond Tuesday afternoon.