GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A University of Florida student and Army veteran on Wednesday disputed allegations by campus police that he misrepresented himself as a military police officer while he was being arrested inside a classroom building earlier this month on unrelated theft charges.
Authorities this week re-arrested Tyler Anthony Brown, 29, of Miami on a new felony charge of impersonating a police officer. Brown has pleaded not guilty, but also signalled Tuesday in court records that he would be open to changing his plea at a court hearing scheduled for April 29.
In a highly unusual move, university police had arrested Brown on March 5 inside the UF classroom building Keene-Flint Hall during a history lecture. A video that circulated on social media showed at least four uniformed officers holding down Brown as a fifth officer in plain clothes watched…