POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A 52-year-old man was arrested in Orange County Saturday amid accusations he impersonated a law enforcement officer.
According to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office, William Ira Tillman III displayed a police-style badge and took a $1,129 power inverter generator from a Lowe’s in Lake Wales and a $478 Samsung television from a Walmart in Winter Haven without paying. Both instances occurred in a span of two days in October 2021.
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Tillman told workers he was picking up the generator as a donation to the Sheriff’s Office, and the television for the “police department” with the paperwork in his vehicle, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
In November, Tillman entered a Walmart store in Haines City wearing a Walmart associate vest and stole merchandise valued at $591, then sold the merchandise in a pawn shop in Orlando, deputies said.
Tilman told investigators that he owned the badge because he worked as a “repo-man” in the past. Deputies are still investigating what type of badge he was using during the thefts.
In addition to impersonating a law enforcement officer, Tillman faces charges two theft charges. He is also being held on warrants in Alachua and Seminole counties.