Holly MatkinKissimmee, FL – A convicted sex offender who has repeatedly served prison time for impersonating a law enforcement officer was arrested for violating his probation on Tuesday.
Jeremy Dewitte, 42, was just released from his latest prison stint less than three months ago, WFTV reported.
The convicted felon, who repeatedly filmed himself impersonating law enforcement officers and posted footage of his exploits to his YouTube page, was arrested on Nov. 29 after a standoff at his Kissimmee home, according to WOFL.
Police said the standoff began after they showed up to arrest Dewitte on an outstanding probation violation warrant, WFTV reported.
“How does it feel to be known as the notorious ‘fake cop?’” a reporter asked Dewitte after his arrest.
“FAKE cop? Huh. Well, that’s great,” he responded.
Dewitte claimed the probation violation stemmed from his failure to shut down the YouTube page where he featured the video clips, WFTV reported.
He said that it wasn’t his fault the page was still up and running and claimed someone had hijacked it.
“I can’t even shut it down. I can’t even use it, I can’t even post on it, I can’t even shut it down!” Dewitte told reporters. “And I explained that to probation multiple times. We even showed them the proof and they still put a warrant out for my arrest for not taking down the channel.”
The channel has not been active for the past year, WFTV reported.
Dewitte has since created a new channel, which included a clip of him telling viewers that he was probably going to be arrested again soon.
“If you don’t hear from me sometime soon, probably sitting in jail,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll see all that all over the place.”
As Dewitte was being led away in handcuffs on Tuesday, he assured reporters that he wouldn’t stay locked up for long.
“I’m not going back to prison. Not today,” he told WFTV.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said he hopes Dewitte is held accountable for his constant pattern of flouting the law.
“I don’t want to say it’s a system failure, but there’s gotta be something done,” Sheriff Lopez told WFTV. “He’s a frequent flyer, you know. The guy definitely loves the attention apparently, so this time hopefully he’ll go to jail for a little bit and maybe he can get some special attention there.”
Dewitte was sentenced to 18 months in prison after his last impersonating a police officer conviction, according to the news outlet.
He served approximately 15 months before being released onto probation in September.
Sheriff Lopez said he has no knowledge of what led up to the probation violation warrant being issued.
“We don’t know the exact violations,” the sheriff said during a press conference. “I know he was ranting that it was something to do with YouTube. We just pick them up at the judge’s request… That’s something he’s going to have to take up with the judge.”
Sheriff Lopez said the suspect was “typical Dewitte” during the ordeal on Tuesday, “running his mouth and talking about he’s being violated for the wrong reasons.”
Sheriff Lopez said he’s also not buying Dewitte’s claims that he is incapable of shutting down the YouTube channel.
“If you’re the master of a system… the main server holder or whatever it is with his accounts, you can definitely deactivate your account,” he said. “So, he’s full of it.”
According to the OCSO, Dewitte was previously the owner of Metro-State Special Services, a company that used a fleet of SUVs and motorcycles to conduct funeral escorts, WESH reported.
The vehicles were outfitted with amber and purple lights.
He was arrested on Sept. 7, 2019, after a Windermere police officer spotted him crossing solid double-yellow lines while conducting a funeral procession near Park Avenue and Maguire Road, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Dewitte was riding a motorcycle equipped with a siren, air horn, and colored lights, and was wearing a “fully equipped” duty vest, police said.
The officer pulled Dewitte over for crossing over the center line, and realized that the tags on the motorcycle were reported to have been stolen, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The suspect was also carrying an unloaded BB gun that resembled a Glock pistol, as well as a radio, two pocket knives, handcuffs, a baton, and pepper spray, police said.
Dewitte was allegedly “uncooperative” with officers, and was ultimately placed under arrest.
He was later released after posting bond.
During his arrest, police seized a bodycam Dewitte was wearing, which included footage of him blocking off a section of Interstate 95 in Volusia County as he was escorting a group of Corvettes, according to WESH.
Another clip showed Dewitte cursing at motorists as he weaved between vehicles at a high rate of speed in Osceola County, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
At times, Dewitte rode the solid center line while barreling towards oncoming traffic with a siren blaring, the video showed.
Another clip showed Dewitte as he shut down an intersection and yelled at motorist that he didn’t “give a f–k.”
At one point, he referred to a woman as a “dumb white b—h in a blue car,” the Orlando Sentinel reported.
“Get over!” he yelled at one vehicle as he pulled up beside it in heavy traffic, the video showed. “Get the f–k over!”
“What are you doing?” Dewitte asked the driver, who then asked the irate motorcyclist the same question.
“What the [expletive] does it look like I’m doing, dumb [expletive]?” Dewitte replied. “Get the [expletive] over before you find out!”
The motorist then told him to “stop pretending” that he was a “police officer,” the video showed.
“Listen, mother–ker,” Dewitte interrupted. “I know what I’m allowed to do and what I’m not allowed to do. What you need to do is figure some [expletive] out before you start talking s–t and cutting us off.”
The motorist threatened to call the police as Dewitte argued with him about the “legal law,” the video showed.
On the afternoon of Sept. 16, 2019, Dewitte was blocking another intersection and ordered an off-duty OSCO deputy to get out of his funeral procession, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Dewitte had the flashing lights on one of his SUV’s activated at the time.
As the off-duty deputy passed by him, Dewitte hit the front of his vehicle fender with both hands, then placed his right hand on his holstered weapon “in a threatening manner,” the deputy and other witnesses told police.
The deputy told Dewitte that he was breaking the law, and identified himself as a law enforcement officer, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
“It doesn’t matter,” the suspect retorted, according to court documents. “Get out of my escort [expletive] boy.”
Several vehicles belonging to Dewitte’s company followed the off-duty deputy as he drove away and called 911, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
One employee, 35-year-old Randall Brocius, was ultimately arrested for carrying a 9mm handgun.
Dewitte was not arrested that day.
On Sept. 26, 2019, a woman called 911 to report that a man she initially believed was a law enforcement officer was blocking traffic and redirecting motorists, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
But as she looked more closely at the insignia on his vehicle, she became suspicious, prompting her call to police.
OCSO deputies arrested him on Oct. 30, 2019, on additional charges of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, resisting without violence, interception of oral communications, and impersonating an officer, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Police said that companies like Dewitte’s are allowed to escort funeral processions, but that they are not legally able to pull people over or block intersections, WFOR reported.
Investigators also said that Dewitte was not allowed to use horns or sirens, and that his vehicles could only be equipped with either amber or purple lights – not both, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The convicted sex offender claimed that his company’s police-like uniforms had been approved by now-former Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, WFTV reported.
The OCSO rebuked that claim, and said Dewitte and his employees have repeatedly been warned that they cannot harass drivers, dress like law enforcement officers, or stop traffic.
Dewitte was arrested yet again in March of 2021 for impersonating an officer, WKMG reported.
Investigators said the convicted felon was riding a motorcycle while dressed as a police officer and that he was carrying a concealed weapon at the time.
According to state records, Dewitte previously served nearly two years in prison for impersonating a police officer in 2003, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
In 2005, he was convicted of lewd or lascivious battery involving a victim between the ages of 12 and 15, and has been a registered sex offender since that time.
Dewitte was sentenced to one year in prison for that offense, but was returned to prison in 2009 for violating his probation.
He was released in October of 2011.
Sandy Malone
