Fake deputy enters home, claims to be searching for cop killer on run

Woman wore attire with 'deputy sheriff' on back, man says

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – Joe Singleton said his wife answered the door at their home Tuesday night in the Villages of Largo to a woman they believed was a sheriff's deputy or detective.

"She fooled us," Singleton said. "She was wearing the normal green shirt like detectives wear, with Sumter County on it. It said 'deputy sheriff' on the back -- black pants, with a holster and a gun belt."

Singleton said he joined his wife at the door listening to the woman, who said that she wanted to warn them about the guy who killed an Orlando cop, still on the run at the time.

"She was worried about all the people in the neighborhood, and that she was stopping at all the houses that she saw a light on," Singleton said.

Singleton told News 6 she asked if she could come inside.

"The only thing I could figure out (at) that time was that she wanted to get a look inside the house. She asked questions that after a while we wondered about," Singleton said.

Questions like if they have an alarm system and if all the windows were locked.

Singleton said after looking around inside for a couple minutes, she told them she was onto the next house.
That's when he called 911.

"As far as I know, she didn't take anything," he said. "We went through the whole house and everything was locked up that night."

Detectives told Singleton no deputies were doing door knocks like the one he described. Now he said he is nervous knowing she was a fake.

"She was armed, but she acted like a deputy," he said. "She spoke the right words, so be careful."

Singleton notified his neighbors, but no one else saw the woman. He told News 6 it was too dark to see her car take off.

Anyone with information about the woman is asked to call the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. Â