Fla. firefighter accused of posing as cop

By Jerome Burdi
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A Palm Beach Gardens firefighter who used flashing lights in his personal pickup truck to slow a speeding motorist has been charged with impersonating a police officer, Boynton Beach police said Friday.

Terry Scott Petruzzi, 40, a lieutenant with Palm Beach Gardens Fire-Rescue, was following another pickup on southbound Interstate 95 near Gateway Boulevard around 7 p.m. Thursday, according to an arrest report. Petruzzi was traveling about 100 mph when a Boynton Beach police officer pulled both trucks over, the report said.

Petruzzi told the officer he was on his way to work as a private investigator in Fort Lauderdale. His red Toyota Tacoma had flashing strobe lights in the front and back.

"I was trying to slow him down," Petruzzi said, according to the arrest report.

Petruzzi has a concealed weapons and private investigator's license, police said. He also had a police scanner, a loaded 9mm handgun, and a video camera on the dashboard.

The man Petruzzi tried to pull over, Matthew LoGuidice, 24, of Tamarac, told officers he was speeding and thought an undercover officer was pulling him over, police said. LoGuidice received a speeding ticket, and Petruzzi was arrested.

Police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said traffic stops are potentially one of the most deadly things an officer can do and they require extensive training.

"Members of the public who have not received this training and don't have the legal authority to fulfill this responsibility should leave it to those who have," Slater said.

She also said that if a person is being pulled over by an unmarked police vehicle, he should stop in a well-lit area and call 911 to verify the police officer's identity.

Petruzzi's personnel file was not available Friday, but he has not been arrested before, state records show. He was placed on administrative leave because of the arrest, Palm Beach Gardens Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief C.R. Brown said.

"He's been a longtime employee of the city and we hate to see this kind of thing happen to anybody," Brown said.

Firefighters must have off-duty jobs approved by the chief, Brown said.

He would not say whether the chief was aware Petruzzi worked as a private investigator.

When asked why he didn't call police for the speeder, the report quoted Petruzzi: "I thought that I could get him to slow down on my own, officer."