@local10news: As per the Volusia County Sheriff’s office: DELAND, Fla. — A former Miami-Dade police officer was arrested in Volusia County this week after authorities say he falsely identified himself as an active law enforcement officer. Deputies responded to a home on Shepherd Avenue in Deltona after reports of a man parked in a driveway claiming to be searching for a missing girl. According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, 39-year-old Paul Fluty identified himself as a Miami-Dade police officer working alongside the U.S. Marshals. Deputies say he showed a badge and a photograph of his credentials while explaining that he was tracking the girl’s cell phone location, despite the fact that she was not officially listed as missing. Investigators later determined that Fluty had been terminated from the Miami-Dade Police Department earlier this year and was not affiliated with any federal task force. Detectives believe he is currently working as a private investigator and may have been in the area conducting an insurance-related investigation. Following his arrest, Fluty told deputies he presented his old badge and credentials “out of habit” and “by mistake,” adding that he “accidentally” claimed to still be a police officer. He was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on Monday night on a charge of impersonating a law enforcement officer. Jail records show he posted a $2,000 bond Tuesday afternoon.
