For Immediate Release
July 20, 2020
County Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. was arrested and charged with false personation after he told a security officer he was with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office and threatened to arrest her, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Hawkins, 53, of St. Cloud, turned himself into the Osceola County Jail earlier tonight.
According to an FDLE press release, on Nov. 7, 2019, Hawkins attempted to gain access to an election of the Turnberry Reserve Homeowner’s Association (HOA), of which he was not a member. When a security guard prevented him from entering the room, he flashed sheriff’s office credentials, claiming that he was with the sheriff’s office and threatening her with arrest.
Hawkins is a special deputy with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, an honorary title, but he does not have arrest powers, nor has he ever been certified as a law enforcement officer in the state of Florida,the press release stated. No one from the sheriff’s office requested him to take any action as a special deputy at the HOA election.
Hawkins was booked into the Osceola County Jail on $1000 bond. The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office, Ninth Judicial Circuit.
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Fred Hawkins Jr.
