The Eyrie

ORLANDO, FL — A former Haines City police officer was arrested Saturday after Orlando police say he was driving a marked patrol car recklessly downtown while allegedly impaired. Court records obtained by News 6 show Joseph Everett, 29, later registered a blood-alcohol level more than three times Florida’s legal limit.

Officers responded after multiple people called to report a marked Haines City police vehicle traveling the wrong way on one-way streets. Video posted on social media showed the car entering oncoming traffic near City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts before it was stopped.

Calls about wrong-way driving led officers to the marked patrol car

Orlando police received repeated reports about the vehicle before making contact with Everett, according to court records. The concern was not just that the car was being driven erratically, but that it was a clearly marked law-enforcement vehicle moving the wrong way through downtown streets.

The vehicle was identified as a Haines City police car, and the stop happened in a busy area near the city center. The incident quickly drew attention online after the social media video spread, showing the patrol car in oncoming traffic before officers intervened.

Everett was off duty at the time and was not wearing his Haines City police uniform or insignia, records show. The fact that he was operating a marked police vehicle while allegedly intoxicated made the stop especially serious for both departments involved.

Officers reported signs of intoxication before the arrest

An arresting officer wrote that an open container of Four Loko was visible in the passenger compartment. Investigators also said Everett smelled strongly of alcohol and had bloodshot, watery eyes.

Police said he stumbled and lost his footing when he tried to stand. Everett told officers he was heading to see his children in Orlando, according to his arrest report.

When an Orlando officer tried to help him call his wife, Everett repeatedly gave seven digits for a six-digit phone passcode, records show. After he refused to perform field sobriety exercises, officers placed him under arrest and took him to the Orange County DUI Testing Center.

Breath tests placed his blood alcohol at more than three times the limit

At the DUI testing center, Everett submitted to breath tests that came back at 0.266% and 0.265%, court records show. The first result came about an hour after the traffic stop, and the second followed minutes later.

Florida’s legal blood-alcohol limit for driving is 0.08%. Everett’s results were well above that threshold and would be considered extreme impairment under state law.

The records obtained by News 6 do not indicate any dispute over the testing procedure. Instead, they show the measurements that led to the DUI charge and his booking into jail.

Haines City had hired Everett only months earlier

The Haines City Police Department said Everett had been hired about three months before the arrest. The agency also said he previously worked as a deputy sheriff in Polk County.

His earlier law-enforcement employment ended in 2024, when he resigned from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office after admitting he had consumed “about three coffee mugs of whiskey” the night before and allegedly came to work intoxicated, according to WTSP-TV. Deputies arrested him for DUI at the time because they said he had driven his marked patrol vehicle while on duty.

Prosecutors later dropped that misdemeanor charge, but the episode had already become part of his personnel history before Haines City brought him on.

Chief Isaac Jackson called the arrest deeply disappointing

Haines City Police Chief Isaac Jackson said he was “deeply concerned and disappointed” by Everett’s reported conduct. Jackson said the department had given Everett a second chance in law enforcement after his previous separation from another agency.

“This situation underscores the importance of maintaining the highest standards of conduct, accountability, and professionalism within our profession,” Jackson said in a statement.

An agency spokesperson said Everett was not subject to random alcohol testing or any other special restrictions because of his prior history. The department later terminated him while he was still in the Orange County jail.

Everett was released on bond after being fired while in custody

Everett remained in the Orange County jail when Haines City fired him, according to officials. He was later released after posting a $1,500 bond.

The arrest brings a fast and public end to a brief stint with the department. It also leaves Haines City facing scrutiny over how it vetted and supervised an officer whose earlier departure from another agency had already involved alcohol-related misconduct allegations.

For Orlando police, the case centered on an alarming downtown stop involving a marked patrol car, a driver who appeared impaired, and breath-test results that placed his blood alcohol far above the legal limit.