Florida man arrested after pretending to be undercover police officer to avoid background check

A Florida man was arrested last week after state police said he pretended to be an undercover officer in order to avoid a background check.

William Dennis Milstead, 64, was charged with falsely impersonating a police officer, making a false statement to obtain property and using a two-way communication device to commit a felony, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Milstead was arrested after a real estate agency reported to the FDLE that he was attempting to lease a residential property without undergoing a background check.

Milstead submitted a falsified letter to the agency claiming that he was an undercover FDLE agent working “off-grid,” which is why he could not participate in a background check.

The fake letter, which had numerous grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors, was supposedly written by an assistant captain of the FDLE’s “Off Grid Command Unit” explaining why Milstead should be an exception to the real estate agency’s background check requirement.

“We ask that you make an exception to limit the background/credit check on William Dennis Milstead due to the security needed to protect our agent safety and rely solely on this letter of recommendation from the FDLE and State of Florida,” the letter reads in part.

It claimed Milstead’s employment began with the FDLE in October 2006 and said he is “three years shy of reaching his 20th year retirement.”

The FDLE said Milstead has 13 prior felony arrests and was charged with impersonating an officer in 2002 and 2016.

Milstead was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail on Nov. 13 and was released on Nov. 15 after posting his $11,000 bond, jail records show.

The case is being investigated by FDLE’s Orlando office.