Suspect impersonating officer pulls over woman in Orange County -- then a trooper shows up

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 32-year-old Deltona man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after he pulled over a woman in the parking lot of an Amscot store at North Goldenrod Road and East Colonial Drive in Orange County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Angel Manuel Garcia pulled over the woman at about 3:30 p.m. while driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was outfitted with red and white LED lights in the windshield and strobe lights in the headlight buckets, troopers said.

Investigators said a nearby trooper spotted what appeared to be a traffic stop, so he drove toward the vehicles to offer his assistance, but Garcia turned off the lights and drove away.

The trooper pulled over Garcia at North Goldenrod and Puritan roads and asked him if he is an officer, according to an arrest report. Garcia said he is an officer, but then said he meant to say he is a security officer, the report said.

Garcia, who is actually unemployed, said the woman he pulled over had aggravated him, troopers said.

Investigators said Garcia, who has a concealed firearm permit, was wearing a loaded pistol in a holster on his hip.

"Unfortunately for him, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he did this," FHP Lt. Kim Montes said. "We don't know what his intentions were. We don't know how far he was going to take it."

Garcia was booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of falsely impersonating an officer and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Channel 9's Michael Lopardi visited Garcia at his home Wednesday, but he said he had no comment and walked inside.

Cox Media Group