GROVELAND, Florida—An Orange County deputy sheriff has been fired after getting arrested by a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy Wednesday.
Juan Alberto Morales-Padilla, 44, of Groveland, was arrested after fleeing an LCSO deputy when the deputy attempted to stop him on his yellow motorcycle on State Road 50 in Clermont, around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest affidavit.
The deputy was behind the motorcycle when it passed a vehicle in the median and the deputy attempted a traffic stop. Padilla failed to slow down, and the deputy activated his sirens and Morales-Padilla turned around and looked at him and sped off, he noted in the affidavit.
The deputy went to Morales-Padilla’s home in Groveland, knocked on his door several times and finally went around to the back of the home where he could see Padilla standing by a door with a phone in his hand. Padilla, who was wearing the same clothes, walked to the rear of the home and the deputy shined his flashlight on him. Morales-Padilla reportedly waved at the deputy and walked down a hallway, emerging soon after with different clothes on, according to the affidavit.
Morales-Padilla then opened the front door, came outside and began actively resisting a second deputy. He was secured and as they walked to a patrol unit, an LCSO deputy asked Morales-Padilla if he was a law enforcement officer.
“You wanna run?”
“Yeah”
“Seriously? Are you a cop? Are you a cop?
“I, uh, yeah.”
“Yes? So, you know better.”
Morales-Padilla also told deputies he made a “bad choice.” He was arrested for fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest without violence. He was later released from the Lake County Jail on $3,000 bond.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina fired Morales-Padilla, who worked for OCSO for less than one year.
“These are serious allegations, and I have been clear that there will be no tolerance for criminal behavior involving deputies,” Mina said in a statement. “At the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, we hold our deputies to the highest ethical standards whether they are on duty or off duty.”
