A police officer has been taken into custody in Central Florida.
The man, who was an officer with the Haines City Police Department when arrested and worked for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the crimes, was apprehended last month by Polk County Sheriff’s Office fraud detectives after an investigation into identity theft from a deceased person and unauthorized credit card charges totaling thousands of dollars.
Jeffrey Ziegler, 24, is accused of conducting the offenses commencing the day after the victim died, on February 28, 2024. Between February 29, 2024, and March 12, 2024, many fraudulent charges totaling $10,362.02 were made to the deceased man’s credit cards.
The charges went unreported until December 31, 2025, when family members searching through the deceased man’s mail received past-due notices for all of the charges, according to local law authorities.
The fraud was reported to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at the start of the year, and an investigation was launched.
The deceased dad resided with his daughter and her boyfriend at the time, who was identified as Jeffrey Ziegler by local law enforcement. The daughter presented detectives with texts from Ziegler, in which he mentioned being at certain locations. Law authorities noted that those texts corresponded to the fake charges.
During the time of his crimes, Ziegler worked as a detention deputy at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Ziegler was a Haines City Police Department officer at the time of his arrest.
“Knowingly stealing from someone who has died is just terrible,” Sheriff Grady Judd stated. “I’m not sure what he was thinking, but we’re holding him responsible for his unlawful actions. This will undoubtedly terminate his career in public safety.
Jeffrey Ziegler was booked at the Sheriff’s Processing Center and charged with criminal use of a deceased person’s personal identification, grand theft, fraudulent use of a credit card, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and unlawful possession of personal identification information.
“We are profoundly disturbed and disappointed by the alleged off-duty behavior of former officer Jeff Ziegler,” stated Haines City Public Safety Director Joe Halman, Jr. “We expect our officers to uphold the law and maintain integrity both on and off the job. Based on the facts we have evaluated, he made extremely poor decisions. His behaviors do not align with the values of this department. We remain committed to accountability and the public’s trust. “If he had not resigned, he would have been fired.”
According to the Haines City Police Department, Jeffrey Ziegler filed a letter of resignation effective immediately following his arrest.
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