Man Arrested On Charges Of Impersonating Officer

A man who tried to enter a woman's car under the guise of an undercover officer was arrested Monday.

Deputies say the suspect, Paul Peter Okula, approached a 25-year-old Floral City woman on Jan. 30 as she sat in her car at Weeki Wachee Village Plaza. Okula put a finger to his lips, indicating he wanted her to be quiet, and told her that he was an undercover officer, according to the sheriff's office.

As he talked with the woman, Okula tried to open the car door but the victim had already locked it. "Fearing that something bad was going to happen," the woman drove away, but she looked back in time to see the suspect climb into a gold Mercedes, a news release states.

A crime stoppers tip came in almost immediately after the media reported the incident, which led a deputy to Okula's house at 12083 Fairway Ave., Brooksville. The deputy found a 1983 gold Mercedes partially hidden by shrubbery behind the house, so he knocked on the door and talked with Okula.

Okula, 51, reportedly changed his story and alibi several times, which led to his arrest on a charge of impersonation of a law enforcement officer.