Florida Man Impersonates Police Spokesman On Twitter, Will Not Face Charges

A case of online stolen identity in Florida will go unpunished, state prosecutors announced Wednesday. The Miami Police Department arrested Ernesto Orsetti back in October for allegedly creating a Twitter account to impersonate police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez, but the State Attorney’s Office dropped charges, much to the impersonated man’s chagrin, CBS Miami reported.

When Orsetti was arrested in October, it was reported that he was a former model who was, at the time, unemployed, according to the Miami Herald. The account was initially discovered and suspended in January 2017, with Rodriguez noting the humor of the situation on his personal Twitter account at the time.

However, now, Rodriguez is less amused that the man police believe was behind the impersonation will go off scot-free. He said he was “very disappointed” with the move, which came as the result of state authorities concluding they did not have enough evidence to move forward with the case against Orsetti.

Rodriguez’s perspective is that whoever set up the account could have used it to report false information that local media, believing the account to be genuine, could have run with. CBS Miami’s report noted that did not actually happen, but Miami Beach Police Chief Daniel Oates said the hypothetical scenario was alarming enough that Orsetti should have been prosecuted.

“All the elements of the crime are present and provable beyond a reasonable doubt,” Oates said in a statement. “The defendant should be prosecuted. If he is not, then he or someone else will do this again.”

The original charge against Orsetti was a third-degree felony for impersonation, which carries a five year sentence in Florida if convicted. According to CBS Miami, Orsetti’s attorney believed the case was a “personal vendetta” against his client, who the Miami Herald said had previously been charged with assault, robbery and harassing employees at his local City Hall.