Police impersonation arrest

A former Miami-Dade police officer who was terminated from his job earlier this year was arrested in Volusia County this week on a charge of impersonating a police officer. Deputies responded to an address on Shepherd Avenue in Deltona after they were alerted to a man parked in a driveway reportedly looking for a missing girl. Paul Fluty, 39, identified himself as a Miami-Dade police officer working with the U.S. Marshals, and displayed a badge and a photo of his credentials. He said the girl was not officially entered as missing, but he was tracking her cell phone location. On further investigation, detectives determined Fluty is no longer a police officer and is not a member of any federal task force. Following his arrest, Fluty said he provided his old badge and credentials "out of habit" and "by mistake," and that he "accidentally" claimed to be a police officer. Documentation gathered during the investigation suggests he is actually a private investigator who may have been in the area for an insurance investigation. Fluty was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail on Monday night and posted $2,000 bond the following afternoon.