Palm Coast, FL - A 60-year-old Palm Coast man is back in the Flagler County Jail for the second time in less than a week, this time being held without bond. Flagler County Sheriff's deputies say Leroy Stotelmyer violated pre-trial conditions when he displayed a badge to avoid paying a $2 toll on the Hammock Dunes Toll Bridge last Wednesday.
The toll bridge manager had video surveillance showing Stotelmyer displaying a badge twice on March 11, 2020, at 5:30 PM and 10:15 PM. On duty law enforcement officers are allowed to cross the bridge at no charge. Detectives could see Stotelmyer display a silver in color badge to the toll bridge attendant before driving away without paying the $2 toll. Deputies spoke with other toll bridge attendants in the area who said they had encountered Stotelmyer. One said he showed him the article about when he was arrested the previous week. Stotelmyer put away the badge and paid the toll.
“This guy clearly has not learned his lesson and has no respect for the law,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Two days after his release and he is already up to his old tricks. We know already that he thinks he can get out of shoplifting and paying tolls with his fake badge, I am happy we were able to get him back off the streets before something more serious occurs. He thinks he wants to be a cop, now he gets to see what it’s like to be an inmate.”
On Friday, March 6, 2020, Stotelmyer showed a badge when he was caught shoplifting two boxes of potatoes and a grouper fillet in a reusable shopping bag as he was walking out of the Publix store on Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast. Stotelmyer told the Loss Prevention Officer that stopped him that he was a U.S. Marshal and did not have to pay for the items. He then put the shopping bag on the ground and left the store. The LPO followed him out to his car. Stotelmyer displayed a gold badge in a black holder that read “United States Marshal” on it.
Deputies contacted Stotelmyer at his home where he denied the accusations. When told there was video surveillance of the incidnet, he admitted to attempting to steal the food as well as identifying himself as a U.S. Marshal. Stotelmyer was arrested and released the same day on a $3,500 bond.
