A 64-year-old Florida man, William Dennis Milstead, was arrested last week on charges of falsely impersonating a police officer, making a false statement to obtain property, and using a two-way communication device to commit a felony. The arrest was made by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) after a real estate agency reported Milstead's attempt to lease a residential property without undergoing a background check.
Milstead allegedly submitted a falsified letter to the agency, claiming to be an undercover FDLE agent working 'off-grid,' which supposedly justified his exemption from the background check requirement. The letter, riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, purported to be from an assistant captain of the FDLE's 'Off Grid Command Unit,' requesting an exception to the background check based on the need for agent safety.
The letter stated that Milstead had been employed by the FDLE since October 2006 and was close to his 20th-year retirement. However, the FDLE revealed that Milstead had a history of 13 prior felony arrests and had previously been charged with impersonating an officer in 2002 and 2016.
Following his arrest, Milstead was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail on November 13 and was released on November 15 after posting an $11,000 bond. The case is currently under investigation by the FDLE's Orlando office.
