Tom GantertArcadia, FL – Two people are accused of hatching a plan break their friend out of jail by pretending to be police detectives.
Francine Olson, 22, and Brandon Reyes, 24, went to the DeSoto County Jail on April 29 and buzzed the jail entrance intercom, according to WWSB.
Using the intercom, they told jail staff they were new detectives in an attempt to gain access to the jail and their friend who had been arrested, 40-year-old George Chanza.
Chanza was arrested on an outstanding warrant on April 26, according to WWSB.
Olson and Reyes also tried to get into the sheriff’s office’s vehicles while they were at the jail, according to the Miami Herald.
The two were arrested by deputies and charged with impersonating law enforcement officers.
“The two have since been reunited with their partner and are now facing third degree felony charges for False Personation of a Law Enforcement Officer,” the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office posted on its official Facebook page.
This in addition to the recent arrest of a different Florida man trying to impersonate an officer while visiting New York.
A 26-year-old Florida man was arrested in New York on April 18 for impersonating a police officer, according to the New England Cable News
Matthew Erris installed flashing red and blue lights on his SUV and used them to pull over a driver while pretending to be a police officer.
Erris was surprised to learn that his intended victim was actually an undercover deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, according to the New York Daily News.
The undercover deputy notified dispatch and real law enforcement officers stopped Erris shortly thereafter, according to the New England Cable News.
Police found an Airsoft pistol under the passenger seat of his car.
Erris was arrested and charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer, the New York Daily News reported.
He was later released on a $2,000 bond.