LAKE MARY, Fla. – A Lake Mary police officer was suspended for one day after an internal affairs investigation found he made three traffic stops earlier this year outside his agency's jurisdiction while off duty.
According to the internal affairs investigation, Officer Stanley Rubin violated six department policies when he made the unauthorized stops in Lake County in March, April and July. Lake Mary is in Seminole County.
Rubin's supervisor discovered the stops July 30 when he was reviewing in-car camera footage from Rubin's patrol car. The supervisors reported it, initiating an internal affairs investigation, according to the internal affairs investigation.
All three traffic stops happened along State Road 46 in Lake County when Rubin was off duty, according to the investigation. Rubin did not alert the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the law enforcement agency within the jurisdiction where he made the stops, investigators found.
None of the illegitimate traffic stops resulted in traffic infractions for the drivers Rubin stopped or attempted to stop.
During the first stop March 4 near County Road 435, Rubin told investigators he attempted to stop a white pickup truck because it did not have brake lights.
After stopping the truck, Rubin said he walked up to the driver and said "Hey, you don't have any brake lights" and then "went back to my patrol and went home."
On April 27, Rubin said he pulled over a vehicle on State Road 46 because it "was having trouble maintaining its speed" and "rode right through" a red flashing light. Rubin told investigators he was concerned and thought "something else was going on."
The driver told Rubin she was "sleepy" on her way to work, according to his interview. Rubin said he told her, "Please be careful, have a nice day" and let her go.
On July 11, Rubin's in-car video shows he attempted another traffic stop of a pickup truck on State Road 46 in Lake County. Rubin told investigators the truck turned into "the oncoming lane" and was "accelerating very rapidly."
Rubin was driving at 86 mph in a 55 mph zone to catch up to the truck, the internal affairs investigation shows.
The officer said once the driver realized Rubin was behind him, he slowed down to the speed limit. Rubin turned on his lights and the driver pulled off, but Rubin said "the action had been corrected" and he felt no need to stop and talk to him, according to the investigation.
During that attempted stop, Rubin was heard laughing on the patrol car video.
"Do you recall laughing after you had the vehicle pull off the roadway?" the investigator asked Rubin.
"I did ‘cause at that point it dawned on me—I'm like, ‘Oh man, that guy thinking he's totally in trouble' … and it made me chuckle just thinking of him thinking how much trouble he was about to get into," Rubin said during his interview.
Rubin has been employed with the Lake Mary Police Department since Oct. 8, 2018 where is currently works road patrol. He previously worked for the city of Fruitland Park as a police officer for about three years, according to his interview with internal affairs.
Rubin acknowledged he did not follow department policies and told his supervisors, "What I did was wrong and, you know, I look forward to using this as a learning experience."
While the investigation was ongoing, Rubin's vehicle take-home privileges were suspended.