Man Accused of Impersonating Deputy, Stealing Cigs

Jere John Daum isn’t a Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy. 

But when he went to the 7-Eleven at the corner of State Road 54 and Little Road near Trinity, he told the clerk he was one, authorities say. 

Daum, who is homeless, walked into the store on Thursday and got some water from a cooler and then walked to the cashier and asked for a pack of cigarettes, according to an arrest report from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. 

The cashier handed him a pack. Daum then handed over $1.06 and said “I’m a Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputy. Sorry to do this to you. You can call the sheriff’s office if you want,” according to the arrest  report.

He then handed the cashier a business card with a handwritten note on the back that read “Pasco County Deputy Griefenerger, Pasco County Sheriff, Marlboro Lights, $6.06, Thanks Deputy Griefenberger!”

Then he left the store, with the cashier following and telling him he had to pay for the cigarettes.

Deputies later found him lying down east of Walmart on 54 with a water bottle  next to him and cigarettes in his pocket.

Daum was arrested Thursday and charged with falsely impersonating a sheriff’s deputy and retail theft. He was later remanded to a jail diversion program on his own recognizance.