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Man Calls 911 In Dispute Over Bar Tab: Deputies

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2009

Rhett Hopkins refused to pay his $4 bar tab at O'Malley's bar in Sarasota because, he said, he was an undercover officer with the Tampa Police Department and worked on homeland security.

Only Hopkins isn't an undercover officer with the agency, Tampa police say.

The manager told Sarasota police that Hopkins, 25, couldn't provide law enforcement identification to the bar Sunday morning but that Hopkins insisted he was in law enforcement.

Hopkins called 911 from his cell phone and asked the operator to connect him to his boss, Rick Diaz at the Tampa Police Department, an arrest report states.

A Sgt. Rick Diaz worked for Tampa police but has since retired, Tampa police spokesman Jim Contento said today.

At some point, Hopkins said Tampa police would pay his bar tab, according to the report.

A Sarasota County officer asked Hopkins for identification, but Hopkins said he didn't have any on him and refused to give his name or pay the bar tab, the report states.

Hopkins was arrested, charged with falsely impersonating an officer. He also was charged with obstructing or opposing an officer without violence, according to the Sarasota County jail Web site. His bail was listed at $1,750.

Investigators later learned Hopkins had previously been jailed on a charge of falsely impersonating an officer.

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