Cops: Security guard arrested for pulling over off-duty officer

A Casselberry man was arrested Tuesday, almost six months after authorities say he posed as law enforcement to pull over a driver who turned out to be an offduty Orlando police officer.

Officer Zachary Price called Casselberry police in March after Omar Forde pulled him over on Red Bug Lake Road in an unmarked white Ford Explorer, according to a warrant affidavit.

Forde, 40, asked Price to slow down through his public address system after sounding sirens and turning on white strobe lights displayed on the front of his car, the affidavit said.

When stopped, Forde told Price again to slow down after Price asked for clarity on whether he was being pulled over, the affidavit said. Forde appeared to be dressed in a law enforcement uniform with a white patch which read “Criminal Taskforce.”

In an interview with Casselberry police, Forde said he worked for a private security company called Criminal Taskforce and was traveling home from work when he noticed Price swerving and decided to take action, the affidavit said.

Forde was charged with false impersonation of a law enforcement official and driving with a suspended license. He was arrested on a warrant Tuesday and has since been released on bond.

A man who identified himself as Forde’s boss with the Criminal Taskforce told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday the incident was a “he-said she-said” situation and claimed Forde activated his lights accidentally, but never sounded sirens or used a public address system.

He refused to provide his full name.

He also said Forde is still an employee of the agency and argued that, if the allegations against Forde were true, he would’ve been arrested at the scene of the incident, rather than months later.

Court records indicated Forde was not represented by an attorney and no contact information for him was listed in arrest documents.