If you have ever crawled toward Clearwater Beach in holiday traffic, you know the urge to escape the gridlock. Clearwater police say one Lakeland man tried it with flashing lights and a wailing siren on the Memorial Causeway and wound up in jail instead of on a fishing boat.
According to Clearwater police, a Lakeland resident was arrested on Saturday after officers say he used an emergency-style siren and flashing lights to snake through heavy traffic on Memorial Causeway while trying to get to a fishing charter. The SUV was stopped on the bridge, and the driver was booked on a felony count of impersonating a law-enforcement officer.
An officer in an unmarked cruiser reported hearing what sounded like an emergency siren and seeing a black SUV with lights activated, which, according to an arrest affidavit, led drivers to move to the sides so the vehicle could slip through the center lane. As reported by WFLA, the lights were described as pinkish but similar enough that they could be mistaken for red emergency lighting.
Police pulled the SUV over near 289 Memorial Causeway and identified the driver as Reginald Cannon of Lakeland. The affidavit states Cannon told officers he owns a funeral home and was stuck in traffic while trying to make a fishing charter. The arrest affidavit reviewed by IONTB also says Cannon acknowledged that motorists moved aside because they believed he was a law-enforcement officer.
What the law says
Florida law makes it a crime to falsely personate public officials, including law-enforcement officers. The statute says that anyone who “takes upon himself or herself to act as such” generally commits a third-degree felony. Courts can consider the use of lights or other signs of authority when deciding how the law applies.
The provisions cited in the arrest affidavit are found in Florida Statute 843.08 and section 843.081, available from the Florida Senate and the Florida Senate.
Arrest and next steps
Officers arrested Cannon on the causeway and charged him with falsely personating a law-enforcement officer. Bond was set at $5,000, according to the affidavit reviewed by IONTB. The case is expected to be reviewed by prosecutors and move through Pinellas County courts, and Cannon is presumed innocent while the case is pending.
State law also restricts certain flashing lights on nongovernmental vehicles and treats their misuse as an aggravating factor in impersonation cases. Lawmakers say those limits are meant to prevent drivers from abusing emergency-style signals on busy roads during holidays and other high-traffic periods.
Investigators are asking anyone with video or eyewitness information about the incident to contact the Clearwater Police Department. Contact details are available from Clearwater Police.
