FORT MEADE, Fla. — A Polk County Sheriff’s deputy has resigned after being caught stealing cash from a driver during a traffic stop near Fort Meade. The incident led to the arrest of 28-year-old Deputy Justin Register for petit theft.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), Register pulled over a driver and placed the individual’s wallet and phone in the trunk of his patrol vehicle. Two fellow deputies, who had arrived to assist, later reported seeing Register return to the trunk and remove $82 from the wallet before handing it to the driver’s daughter.
The driver soon noticed $300 missing, prompting Register to retrieve a folded bundle of cash from a bag in his patrol car, saying, “Oh, here it is.”
An internal investigation began after the backup deputies reported the suspicious behavior to their supervisor. Register was arrested and resigned on Wednesday; PCSO said he would have been terminated had he not stepped down.
Register had been with the agency since May 2018 and served as a drug recognition expert. Sheriff Grady Judd, visibly outraged, said, “It makes me so angry I could chew the bark off of oak trees because he betrayed the community’s trust.”
Due to his role in over 200 DUI arrests, the sheriff’s office is now working with the State Attorney’s Office to review all cases he was involved in.
