John Jefferson
Left: Steven Kenneth Donovan (Orange County Jail). Right: Sabal Palms apartment complex in Orlando, Florida (Google Maps).
A Florida man is accused of impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and going to an Orlando apartment complex in search of “Mexicans” in the country illegally.
Officers with the Orlando Police Department responded to a call about a suspicious person around 6 p.m. Monday at the Sabal Palm apartment complex. When they arrived they found the suspect, later identified as 47-year-old Steven Kenneth Donovan, standing by a bicycle. Donovan allegedly told cops he was a “homeland security officer” and provided them with a blue card which actually was an application to become a licensed security officer.
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An apartment complex employee who came into contact with Donovan said the defendant approached him on a bicycle and asked him to open up one of the apartments, cops wrote. Donovan allegedly opened up his jacket and showed him part of a handgun. The employee walked to the front office to call cops. Donovan followed the employee to the office and “started knocking on the doors and windows screaming he was the police,” the affidavit said.
Donovan allegedly told cops he was “working as an officer and was making sure ‘Mexicans’ were not illegally staying in an apartment in the complex.” He claimed he had been in the complex a few days prior and saw a “Mexican” outside an apartment with a broken lock and rolled up mattress. Donovan said he wanted to make sure the person wasn’t still inside the apartment.
Cops searched the defendant and found a loaded 9 mm gun and pocketknife. As police officers were taking Donovan into custody, he allegedly said they could not arrest him because he was a cop. He was then taken jail on a charge of falsely impersonating an officer.
As of Thursday afternoon, he remained in the Orange County Jail on a $1,000 bond. He was also barred from the apartment complex.
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