Inset: Erica Muzzy (Volusia County Jail). Background: Muzzy, a deputy with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, was apprehended for allegedly operating a motorcycle with a phony license plate (Sheriff’s Office).
Authorities in Volusia County, Florida, detained one of their own when she was caught riding her motorcycle with a counterfeit license plate that read “CHASEM3,” officials reported.
Deputy Erica Muzzy, 26, faces charges of possessing forged license plates. The situation emerged around 9 p.m. on Saturday in Deltona, where deputies noticed a motorcyclist at a Wawa in Deltona who had previously evaded a traffic stop, according to the sheriff’s office via a Facebook post. This motorcyclist was part of a group at the Wawa that included Muzzy, officials stated.
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As deputies were trying to arrest that motorcyclist, he called over to Muzzy who “became argumentative” with them. Deputies noted the fictitious plate on Muzzy’s motorcycle. Instead of having it towed, she chose to drive it away with the fake tag flipped up, per cops.
Deputies later pulled Muzzy over on Interstate 4. Body camera footage posted by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office showed Muzzy step off her bike and again become argumentative with deputies.
“I was just told I was good to go,” she told the deputy.
She said she was trying to go home.
“Why would they tell me I was good to go if I wasn’t?” she asked.
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Cops took her into custody. After receiving her Miranda warnings, she told deputies she knew it was illegal to ride a vehicle with fake tags, a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime said. She said she often switches out her real license plate with a prop tag for photographs and forgot to put the legal one back on the bike, per the affidavit.
After Muzzy’s arrest, the sheriff’s office became aware of a social media account associated with Muzzy that showed her “reckless stunt riding on public roads.”
Muzzy, a deputy with the agency since 2021, resigned from the agency rather than being fired. She has since posted bond. She did not have a lawyer listed in court documents.
