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News and Investigations
News & Investigations
News Releases and Public Information
Welcome to the Polk County Sheriff's Office News Room, where the Public Information Officers (PIO's) post all of the information that they release to the news media. PIO's act as liaisons between news media organizations and the Sheriff's Office. The PIO's routinely release timely and accurate information and Crime Stoppers bulletins, and respond to routine and "breaking news" media inquiries. News releases and Crime Stoppers information can be found on this page.
PCSO's full-time Public Information Officers are Carrie Horstman, Brian Bruchey, and Julianna Rivera. The Public Information Officers can be reached by sending an e-mail collectively at PIOs@polksheriff.org.
The recent news releases sent out by the PIOs can be found here, and archived releases (older than 2017) can be found here.
May 1, 2026
Orlando Uber driver arrested for impersonating law enforcement during Polk County traffic stop
Media Contact: Brian Bruchey
A driver for the ride-sharing service Uber was arrested Thursday afternoon, April 30, 2026 during a traffic stop by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, after the driver tried to pass himself off as a law enforcement officer.
The driver, 49-year-old John Edouard Gerlus of Orlando, was subsequently taken to the Sheriff’s Processing Center and charged with Impersonating a LEO (F3) and Resisting without Violence (M1).
At approximately 12:22 pm, a deputy noticed Gerlus’ 2016 Honda Crosstour failing to stop for a traffic light, and a traffic stop was conducted on Lakeland Hills Boulevard (SR 33) at Bridgewater Center Lane in Lakeland.
When the vehicles came to a stop, Gerlus quickly exited the car and began approaching the deputy, who told him repeatedly to stop and go back to his car.
Gerlus then told the deputy that he was a police officer, while showing a New York Police Department badge and a photo of himself in a police uniform. Gerlus said he currently works for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Gerlus tried unsuccessfully to resist the deputy’s efforts to detain him for the investigation.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and denied that Gerlus was an employee. They did say that Gerlus was going through the hiring process.
Eventually, Gerlus admitted that he was not a law enforcement officer, and that he got the NYPD badge from a friend who is a dispatcher in New York.
At the time of the traffic stop, Gerlus had customers in the back seat of his car-- a couple from Massachusetts who were being transported from the airport to a vacation rental home in Lakeland.
John Gerlus was taken to jail while another deputy took the couple to the vacation rental which was approximately five miles away.
The driver, 49-year-old John Edouard Gerlus of Orlando, was subsequently taken to the Sheriff’s Processing Center and charged with Impersonating a LEO (F3) and Resisting without Violence (M1).
At approximately 12:22 pm, a deputy noticed Gerlus’ 2016 Honda Crosstour failing to stop for a traffic light, and a traffic stop was conducted on Lakeland Hills Boulevard (SR 33) at Bridgewater Center Lane in Lakeland.
When the vehicles came to a stop, Gerlus quickly exited the car and began approaching the deputy, who told him repeatedly to stop and go back to his car.
Gerlus then told the deputy that he was a police officer, while showing a New York Police Department badge and a photo of himself in a police uniform. Gerlus said he currently works for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Gerlus tried unsuccessfully to resist the deputy’s efforts to detain him for the investigation.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and denied that Gerlus was an employee. They did say that Gerlus was going through the hiring process.
Eventually, Gerlus admitted that he was not a law enforcement officer, and that he got the NYPD badge from a friend who is a dispatcher in New York.
At the time of the traffic stop, Gerlus had customers in the back seat of his car-- a couple from Massachusetts who were being transported from the airport to a vacation rental home in Lakeland.
John Gerlus was taken to jail while another deputy took the couple to the vacation rental which was approximately five miles away.