Volusia Detectives Identify & Charge Fake 'Police Officer' In $50K Theft Spree Across Several Counties

Date Added: October 21, 2020 1:16 pm

Andrew Gant
Office of Public Affairs & Media Relations

VOLUSIA DETECTIVES IDENTIFY & CHARGE FAKE ‘POLICE OFFICER’ IN $50K THEFT SPREE ACROSS SEVERAL COUNTIES

A prolific retail theft suspect who wore a fake badge or uniform while stealing from Home Depot and Lowe’s stores in seven counties has been arrested on charges out of Volusia County, with more charges pending.

Callvester Smith, 47 (DOB 9/15/1973), of Orlando, is a suspect in the theft of more than $50,000 in merchandise from several different stores over a 90-day period. Four of those thefts occurred in Volusia County, where sheriff’s detectives Bill Weaver and Robert McCabe identified him and obtained a warrant for his arrest on charges of felony retail theft and falsely impersonating a law enforcement officer during commission of a felony.

Smith was arrested Tuesday by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as he returned to his apartment on Oak Ridge Road in Orlando. He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Orange County Jail, where he remained in custody Wednesday on $75,000 bond on his Volusia charges, plus $2,000 bond on a warrant for grand theft out of Marion County. A judge’s order states Smith must be fitted with an ankle monitor if he’s released on bond.

Additional charges are pending in 11 other incidents outside Volusia County.

During the thefts, Smith was either dressed in a security guard’s uniform or as an off-duty law enforcement officer, wearing a badge on a lanyard around his neck and carrying a replica handgun in a holster on his waist.

Smith has a significant criminal history that includes 41 felony charges and 20 convictions – including armed burglary, armed robbery, aggravated battery on a person 65 or older and resisting an officer with violence – with nine state prison sentences and two escapes.

UPDATE: As the investigation continues, detectives are documenting additional thefts with the total value of stolen merchandise exceeding $50,000 and approaching $100,000. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is handling this case, and additional charges are pending.