A Pembroke Pines man was arrested Sunday on a Monroe County warrant. He faces charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
35 year old Michael Munoz was arrested by Pembroke Pines Police Sunday on the Monroe County warrant. Charges against him include impersonating an officer by wearing a tactical vest with federal law enforcement patches on it; open carrying of weapons for carrying two Glock handguns, one in a holster on the tactical vest and one in a thigh rig holster; and prohibited use of certain lights for displaying blue emergency lights on his personal vehicle.
On October 9th, Sgt. Joel Slough was off duty at his Marathon home. Several city of Marathon firefighters were there with him when a blue Chevrolet Tahoe stopped in front. The Tahoe had features usually displayed on a law enforcement vehicle, including a driver’s side spot light and a police suspension package. A man later identified as Munoz was driving. He was wearing a tactical vest that could be seen through the window. Sgt. Slough saw a patch on the vest he recognized as coming from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another patch identified Munoz as “Police Tactical Medic”. As Sgt. Slough talked with Munoz, Munoz told him he was in the keys to assist with hurricane recovery efforts. He indicated he was assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force run by the FBI out of Miramar, Florida.
Munoz told Sgt. Slough he used to work for the city of Marathon Fire Department. He told the sergeant “Cesar” would know who he was. The man he was referring to – Fire Department Lt. Cesar Moreton - was actually in the sergeant’s house at the time, so Munoz got out of the Tahoe to go inside and say hello. When he got out of the vehicle, Sgt. Slough could see he was wearing two pistols and had numerous weapon magazines for a rifle and for the handguns.
Munoz spoke with Moreton for a time and then left. After he left, Moreton approached Sgt. Slough and told him he did not think Munoz was really law enforcement. Sgt. Slough contacted an HSI investigator and confirmed Munoz was not a current federal agent with any federal agency. A check on Facebook revealed two Facebook pages in his name; both of them indicated he is affiliated with federal law enforcement.
Further investigation revealed a number of people who said they’d seen Munoz around the Marathon area beginning September 22nd. All of those people said he was dressed as a federal law enforcement officer and was driving a vehicle equipped to look like a law enforcement vehicle.
The Sheriff’s Office notified the Department of Homeland Security. A warrant was issued for Munoz here in Monroe County. He was booked into the Broward County Jail. He paid bond on the warrant and was released; bond was set at $12,500.00.