Miami Beach cops arrest man for Twitter parody of police spokesman

Enlarge / Miami Beach: home of beautiful beaches and thin-skinned police officers. (credit: danielvalle5)

A Miami Beach man is facing criminal charges after he created a parody account purporting to be Ernesto Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department. The defendant, Ernesto Orsetti, is charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, according to a press release posted by the Miami New Times.

"Defendant falsely created and assumed the identity of the victim (active police officer/police information officer) via Twitter," the police report says. "The Twitter account, @ernierodmb, had a marked Miami Beach police vehicle and a photo of the victim in uniform."

Twitter had already suspended the account. Orsetti was arrested on Thursday afternoon, the New Times reports.

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