A Florida Keys sheriff’s deputy who met a woman while working security on the set of an Apple TV show allegedly used confidential law enforcement databases to track her down, then sped after her and pulled her over in what investigators say was an unauthorized traffic stop.
Deputy Lamar Eliseo Roman, 28, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of accessing a computer or electronic device without authority after investigators said he misused police databases to locate a woman he met while working on the set of the show “Bad Monkey,” according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office warrant.
Authorities said Roman used the information to find the woman and pulled her over on U.S. 1. Investigators say he nearly caused a head-on collision while speeding to catch up with her. Roman, who had been with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office since May 2025, has since been fired.
Roman later admitted that he improperly searched the databases and told fellow deputies he only wanted to apologize.
“I mean, it’s a tough month and I saw a shiny thing and teasing and all that and I knew that when I put that I’m like ‘f***,’ and that’s why I just like I stopped right after and nothing else,” investigators said Roman told them.
The situation began on February 3 when Roman noticed the woman getting off the extras bus on the set of “Bad Monkey,” a streaming series set in the Florida Keys starring Vince Vaughn and based on a novel by South Florida author Carl Hiaasen.
Roman, who was working security on the set, reportedly began whistling at the woman and loudly catcalling her, saying, “Oh my god, why didn’t nobody tell me we were bringing models to (the) set,” according to the report.
At one point, Roman and the woman, who was not identified, spoke, and she told him she had a boyfriend. Roman continued “flirting and joking” with her before the two exchanged names and cellphone numbers, the report said.
He allegedly told her something like, “I need your name and number just in case I pull you over someday,” according to investigators.
Authorities say Roman later accessed Florida’s Driver and Vehicle Information Database, known as DAVID, along with the Florida Crime Information Center and National Crime Information Center databases to search for the woman’s information. He also entered her license plate into a “hotlist,” which alerts officers if license plate readers detect the vehicle.
On February 19, the woman’s license plate triggered an alert in the system.
Dashcam footage reviewed by investigators allegedly shows Roman, who was on patrol that day, accelerating to about 70 mph on U.S. 1. He passed two dump trucks in a no-passing zone and then an SUV while trying to catch up with the vehicle.
Investigators said Roman nearly caused a head-on collision while passing because a white truck traveling northbound had to veer off the roadway to avoid a crash.
About two minutes later, authorities said Roman pulled the woman over near Bobalu’s Southern Café on Big Coppitt Key. His in-car camera recorded video but no audio because he was not wearing his microphone.
According to the report, the woman later told investigators the stop made her uncomfortable because of Roman’s remarks, including, “Oh, I thought you had a boyfriend.” She also questioned how he knew it was her vehicle. Investigators said Roman asked why she had not followed him back on Instagram. The traffic stop was never recorded in official logs.
“I told you I’d find you and pull you over,” he allegedly said. “And I was hoping your boyfriend was in the car so I can pull him out and give him a hard time.”
During a March 4 interview, Roman told investigators that regarding the traffic stop, “At that point I was just going to say ‘hi,’ you know, ‘got you’ and we were laughing and then that’s kind of it.”
Roman had been working security on the set of “Bad Monkey,” a streaming series set in the Florida Keys, when he noticed the woman and tried to talk with her. Investigators say he later searched her information and pulled her over using that data.
According to the warrant, the woman told investigators she did not want to pursue criminal charges against Roman. However, the sheriff’s office continued the case and arrested him Tuesday.
In a statement following the arrest, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said he is “committed to keeping this community informed of significant events that occur in this agency — good and bad.”
Roman is scheduled to be arraigned in a Florida Keys courtroom on March 26.
Leave a Comment