POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Polk County Sheriff's Office announced a deputy resigned after being arrested for alleged theft at a traffic stop.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) arrested and charged 28-year-old Justin Register for petty theft.
Register was a traffic enforcement deputy who had been with PCSO since 2018. He resigned from his position on Wednesday afternoon.
PSCO said Register was conducting a traffic stop in Fort Meade and arrested a driver for driving without a license.
Two additional deputies pulled up to assist in the stop and saw Register taking the wallet and phone of the arrested driver and putting them in the trunk of his patrol vehicle.
The PCSO stated the driver's daughter then arrived and requested to take custody of his property, including the wallet and phone.
Register then allegedly went to the truck to get the wallet and phone. PCSO said he took $82 from the wallet and handed it to him.
The driver told the deputy that there should have been $300 more in the wallet.
PCSO said deputies looked for the money and Register then went back to the trunk, unzipped a rifle bag that had the missing money and proclaimed, “Oh, here it is!”
The two other deputies reported the incident led to the investigation.
“I am disgusted by Justin Register’s dishonest behavior. We are going to hold him accountable for his disgraceful actions, and he should never be trusted to work in law enforcement again. I am proud of the two other deputies who came forward to report what they discovered,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
In February, PCSO posted a picture of Register having over 200 DUI arrests in 2024.
Giving @MADDNational props to our very own Deputy Justin Register, whose 2024 goal was to make 100 DUI arrests. He far exceeded - making 200 arrests by November! This is a new record at PCSO. We've never had one deputy make that many arrests. Here he is receiving a Sheriff's… pic.twitter.com/sv4HZkjYdz
— Polk County Sheriff 🚔 Grady Judd (@PolkCoSheriff) February 5, 2025
PCSO said they are working with the state attorney's office to review all of Register's arrests.
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
