In Orlando, Florida, authorities said that a man with a phony badge broke into a woman’s hotel room and robbed her while brandishing a gun.
Authorities were called to a hotel on August 23 along a major area of the Sunshine State that is lined with resorts, according to a statement from the Orlando Police Department.
A woman reported to police that an unidentified male forced entry into her room while wearing a “badge” around his neck and posed as a police officer. According to the woman, the guy stole her wallet while holding what looked to be a weapon in his belt and handcuffed her.
Hotel security footage, which showed the suspect’s entrance on the hotel floor and a closeup of his phony badge, supported the woman’s story.
Police identified the offender as 27-year-old Michael Darren Jesse Rodriguez based on the CCTV footage.
According to authorities, Rodriguez, 27, has committed similar robberies at Days Inns in Miami Springs and Lantana, Florida, so this was not his first prank.
Rodriguez was arrested by the Gwinnett County Police Department in Georgia on September 8, 2024, while operating the identical car that was involved in the Orlando and Lantana events.
When Orlando detectives went to Georgia to check the suspects’ cars, they found handcuffs, a phony police badge, and other evidence connected to both instances.
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Rodriguez was taken into custody on October 2 after Orlando police secured an arrest warrant for him. Rodriguez was accused of robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment with a weapon, and falsely impersonating an officer in order to commit a felony with a weapon.
Police in Orlando asked anyone else who could have been harmed by Rodriguez to call 800-423-TIPS (8477).
