OPD officer fired for posing as stalker, records show

An Orlando Police Department officer acted as a woman’s stalker and continued to call and text the victim despite her pleas for him to stop, according to a termination letter from the agency.

Douglas Bates, who was hired in 2012, was fired on Monday after an internal-affairs investigation determined he violated department regulations. He becomes the fifth OPD officer fired this year.

The saga started in April when the woman received a letter on her doorstep from a person who called himself “Lamont.” The letter indicated she was being watched.

Bates allegedly found out about the letter and started sending her texts where he was pretending to be the stalker, according to his termination letter. He also sent the woman a picture of an unknown person and identified him as the stalker.

In one text message, Bates told the woman the apartment address of where the alleged stalker lived, police said. Orlando police later determined that the man who actually lived at the address is a sex offender, the termination letter said.

“[Y]ou willingly tried to send an innocent victim to an unknown location and put her in harm’s way by trying to send her to an apartment where a sexual offender resides,” the termination letter read. “This action by you does not portray the professionalism that one would suspect from an Orlando police officer.” Bates called her and sent 10 text messages in a 38-day period.

Bates wrote a response letter to the internal affairs investigation saying it was a joke. It’s unclear how Bates knows the woman.

In an interview with Orlando police, the victim called Bates’ actions “really creepy” and “absolutely terrifying.”

On May 28 and May 30, she replied to the text messages saying “you need to stop texting me...Foreal. Your [sic] creeping me out” and “LEAVE ME ALONE.”

“Law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard and this behavior is not tolerated,” according to an OPD statement. “The oath police officers take is one of protection and service; this investigation unmistakably displays the opposite.”

The woman was caused “undue anxiety,” and as a result told friends to call 911 if she didn’t contact them when she got home at night and borrowed a Taser for protection, police say.

“[The victim] also had to seek medical attention for anxiety and panic attacks due to your unethical, immoral and illegal actions,” the termination letter said.

The State Attorney’s office declined to file charges because there was insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, police said.

Reached by phone Bates declined comment, and said he is considering appealing the firing through the union.

Also fired this year by OPD:

Peter Delio and William Faulkner were fired last month after a man in their custody was kneed in the abdomen and his calls for medical attention were ignored.

William Escobar was fired in February after he allegedly kicked and punched a man during an arrest because the man tried to kick him. Prosecutors say he lied about the suspect resisting arrest.

David Johnston was fired in May and pleaded guilty a few days later to firing 23 shots at a domestic-violence suspect fleeing police in a downtown parking garage. He was sentenced to five years probation for the crime.