VOLUSIA COUNTY, FL – Police in Florida say that a 47-year-old man was engaged in a rather daring series of thefts in several counties throughout the state.
According to police, he allegedly disguised himself as a police officer while nonchalantly taking about $50,000 in merchandise from various home improvement stores.
BUSTED: Florida detectives have identified and charged what they call a “fake police officer” for a $50,000 theft spree across several counties. https://t.co/JjHqXJcoEG
— FOX 35 Orlando (@fox35orlando) October 21, 2020
Detectives said that they have identified and charged the man responsible for the thefts from numerous “The Home Depot” and “Lowe’s Home Improvement” stores in seven counties.
The suspect, identified as Callvester Smith, had allegedly engaged in these brazen thefts over a 90-day period. Smith would allegedly stroll into one of the home-improvement stores while attired in a get-up resembling a police officer, load up what he wanted and just waltz on out.
Smith dressed as police officer while exiting Home Depot – FDLE screenshot
Detectives with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office were finally able to identify Smith as the suspect in four thefts that occurred in their county, and obtained a warrant for his arrest. He has been charged with felony retail theft and impersonating a law-enforcement officer during the commission of a felony.
The Sheriff’s Office noted that Smith has quite the criminal history, reporting:
“[Smith has a] criminal history that includes 41 felony charges and 20 convictions – including armed burglary, armed robbery, aggravated battery on a person 65 or older and resisting an officer with violence – with nine state prison sentences and two escapes.”
Callvester Smith – Orange County Sheriff’s Office
However, it was the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that wound up effecting the arrest of Smith, nabbing him on Oct. 20th as he returned to his apartment on Oak Ridge Road in Orlando.
After appearing before a judge on the most recent charges, Smith was ordered to wear an ankle monitor if he is released on bond.
This alleged crime shall certainly cement Smith’s name into the infamous hall of fame that is known online as the chronicles of “Florida Man.”
For those unfamiliar with the term “Florida Man” — the phrase often precedes some of the strangest crimes to transpire in the United States, bringing untold shame to the well-adjusted citizens of the Sunshine State.
Such is the case for a Florida man who was recently arrested for assaulting his girlfriend . . . with a pumpkin.
Here’s that story:
On Oct. 19th, police arrested a 26-year-old man for allegedly attacking his girlfriend with a literal pumpkin while at their home in the Gulf Coast town of Largo.
Florida man attacks girlfriend with pumpkin: report https://t.co/NbuDzoiLG2 pic.twitter.com/iHT7GmBj4k
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) October 22, 2020
The man, identified as Nathan Garisto, is now facing charges of domestic battery for allegedly throwing both the innards and the pumpkin itself at his 29-year-old girlfriend.
Garisto and his significant other had been living together for roughly 18 months before the alleged pumpkin attack.
Apparently the couple had been arguing prior to the physical escalation involving the throwing of the pumpkin.
According to reports, Garisto’s girlfriend asked him repeatedly to leave before matters became physical, but Garisto was allegedly intoxicated and ignored her demands.
Only in Florida Headline: https://t.co/tMCyweCtIS pic.twitter.com/VnVGmiZCKj
— Richard Birdsall (@rbirds12) October 22, 2020
Authorities said he then threw the pumpkin at her and followed it up with a tarp that was littered with the pumpkin’s pulp and seeds.
When authorities arrived on the scene, the victim was reportedly covered in the pumpkin innards. Garisto told police that he never intended to hit his girlfriend with the pumpkin — but rather was aiming for the sliding glass door inside the home. Garisto told the officers that he was simply venting his frustrations.
Despite the explanation, Garisto was arrested and has since bonded out after paying a $1,000 bail.
Police: Florida man arrested after allegedly hitting deputy in face with a Bible – ‘I condemn you’
Oct. 10, 2020
MARION COUNTY, FL – Florida, you never cease to amaze, and you never fail to disappoint for your weirdness factor.
While the bible references the act of flying in several verses throughout the scripture, I don’t think it means for The Bible ITSELF to be flying through the air.
On Sept. 22, three deputies responded to a residential burglary call in a northwest suburb of Orlando.
A resident of Summerfield called police to report a burglary after he had returned home to find his door had been kicked in.
When the deputies arrived, they were surprised to discover the suspect present at the scene, stripped nearly to his “birthday suit.”
There, in broad daylight and nothing but his gray underwear, was Robert Otis Hoskins, 39. He was running around the yard, yelling and screaming, almost incoherently as the deputies arrived.
Deputies say Hoskins had one of his hands behind his back, and the other one holding the Holy Bible above his head, shouting “I condemn you,” or something similar to that statement.
According to arrest reports, he then threw the Bible and hit one of the deputies in the face.
Whatever protective bubble the Holy Bible may have surrounded Hoskins in during his condemnation rant, it didn’t last very long once Hoskins no longer held it over his head.
As deputies attempted to place Hoskins under arrest for the alleged residential burglary, a brief but violent struggle ensued.
According to the responding deputies, Hoskins continued to behave in an aggressive manner and “ignored all commands to stop,” prompting a deputy to deploy a taser.
Once the taser was deployed, deputies were able to get Hoskins to comply with their orders and place him under arrest.
According to one Orlando news source, Hoskins was quoted as saying to the victim:
“ I (expletive) up man, I was mad.”
One deputy wrote in an arrest report that Hoskins had defecated on himself at the scene. It was also noted that Hoskins did request to speak with a deputy, but if any other deputies came to ask him questions, Hoskins would stare off blankly into the distance and not respond to them.
While Hoskins was being questioned as to the reason he broke into the home, one deputy wrote in the report that Hoskins stated:
“Because God told me to.”
He also wrote in the arrest affidavit that Hoskins stated he “freed her” referring to the victim’s juvenile daughter.
The arrest affidavit states Hoskins had earlier asked the victim if he could borrow some clothing and the victim declined. Hoskins said he decided to wait until the victim left to run some errands and then kicked in the door and entered the home.
The victim’s wife stated in addition to the kicked-in door, there was a large amount of broken glass all over the floor from a shattered window, a mattress had been tossed on its side and about $50 in clothing had been stolen from the home.
One witness at the scene told the arresting deputies that Hoskins has a “drug problem” but did not go into further detail on what types of drugs, if any, he may have taken prior to the altercation with his neighbors.
Hoskins was booked into the Marion County Jail and faces multiple charges, including battery on a deputy, burglary to an unoccupied dwelling, theft, criminal mischief-property damage and resisting an officer without violence.
He was later released on a $13,000 bond. There was no word on whether or not he was allowed to keep the Bible.
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