COCOA, Fla. – An Orlando firefighter is on leave without pay after his second arrest since 2023, this time accused of stalking.
Lateef Williams, 47, was booked Monday to face charges of unlawfully installing a tracking device or application, stalking, and harassing a witness or victim, records show.
According to a Cocoa Police Department probable-cause affidavit, the victim called police Friday to unsuccessfully trespass Williams for continually showing up to her workplace, allegedly starting early that morning and ignoring her commands to stay away. She goes on, reporting she then saw Williams’ vehicle continually driving past her workplace before he arrived later that night and allegedly started banging on the door.
She figured Williams was doing this over a “bucket of vitamins” that each of them claimed was theirs and that she had retrieved from his residence during a “large disturbance,” police said. The victim said she soon saw Williams crouching behind her vehicle and “messing with” something before he took off, the affidavit states.
Police said that the victim awoke the next morning to a note on her driver’s-side window stating, “You have NOWHERE to go and no place to hide!! Return what you stole! You can be found!”
Williams allegedly admitted that he placed a CityTag tracker on the exhaust of the victim’s vehicle sometime during October after a car crash “due to her ‘harassment’ of him and accusations of infidelity,” well as that it was still active during his conversation with police on Saturday, the affidavit states.
(The victim) appeared distressed when informed of the tracking device and began to tear at the eyes, advising that it now “made sense” on how be could locate her continually.
Probable-cause affidavit for case No. 2025-00055092 (excerpt)
It was also learned that Williams on Saturday had approached a third person whom he tried to have intervene and convince the victim to drop charges against him, according to the affidavit.
After the victim noticed that this person was not speaking normally — allegedly mentioning multiple times that she “needed” to drop charges — police said they got frustrated, stated they didn’t want to be in the middle of their problems, and sent the victim screenshots of the following text conversation between her and Williams:
“tell her you went to the cops saying you don’t want anything to happen. Don’t say I said for you to say anything! I put (it) on so I know when she was coming (so) I’d be gone. Cause before thay (sic) I went up to her office and asked her when she was gonna be there so I wouldn’t be there. Call me. Drop charges affidavit. Call me back. It helps me if she is willing to physically go to the police station and file a DROP CHARGES AFFIDAVIT. Can you respond back please. My life is hanging in the balance.”
Probable-cause affidavit for case No. 2025-00055092 (excerpt)
Williams was previously arrested in 2023, when he was accused of using a knife to frighten a co-worker at Orlando Fire Station 9.
A spokesperson for the Orlando Fire Department provided News 6 with the following statement on Thursday:
The Orlando Fire Department has been made aware of an arrest involving one of its personnel.
While we cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation, we want to emphasize that all members of our department are expected to uphold the highest standards of conduct, both on and off duty.
We took this arrest very seriously and, as is our practice, initiated an immediate internal investigation. The firefighter involved has been placed on leave without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
The department remains committed to transparency, accountability and maintaining the trust of the community we serve.
City of Orlando Fire Department Public Information Manager
At his first appearance in court on Tuesday, a judge granted Williams $6,000 bond and placed him on GPS monitoring as a condition of his release. Williams was further ordered to surrender his firearms and to not return to the victim’s place of employment or residence, records show.