Haines City police officer out of a job after DUI arrest in Orlando while driving patrol vehicle

A Haines City police officer who joined the department in July is no longer employed there after he was arrested in Orlando on charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving while off duty in a department patrol vehicle, the Haines City Police Department said. The officer, Joseph Everett, was booked into the Orange County jail on Saturday, Oct. 17, according to Orange County corrections records cited in news reports.

It is the second time in a little more than two years that Everett has been arrested on a DUI charge while working in Polk County law enforcement. In June 2024, while a Polk County Sheriff's Office deputy, he was arrested after a supervisor smelled alcohol on him when he reported for duty. He resigned, and prosecutors later dropped that case without a conviction.

The new charges are accusations. Everett has not been convicted, and no attorney for him was listed in available records Sunday.

The arrest

Orange County booking records list two charges: DUI with a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.20 or higher, and reckless driving, according to reports by local outlets that reviewed the records. Bond was set at $1,000 on the DUI charge and $500 on the reckless driving charge, those reports said.

The Orlando Police Department made the arrest, according to the Daily Ridge and the Lakeland Gazette, which reported his age as 29 and said he lives in Davenport, another northeast Polk County city. The exact time and location of the traffic stop, and what led officers to pull the vehicle over, had not been released as of Sunday. FOX 35 reported the arrest took place Saturday; another outlet said it happened Friday, the day before the booking date.

Haines City police confirmed to FOX 35 that Everett was off duty at the time but was driving a Haines City Police Department patrol vehicle. Haines City sits in northeast Polk County, and the department has not said why the vehicle was in Orange County.

The alcohol level listed in the booking description matters under Florida law. The legal limit for drivers 21 and older is 0.08. A reading of 0.15 or higher triggers enhanced penalties on conviction, including higher fines, a longer possible jail term and a required ignition interlock device. A reading at the level described in the booking records would be at least two and a half times the legal limit. Test results themselves had not been released.

What the department said

The Haines City Police Department told WKMG News 6, which first reported his departure late Saturday night, that Everett is no longer with the agency as a result of the incident. The department did not say whether he was fired or resigned; WKMG and the Lakeland Gazette described it as a termination.

In a statement to FOX 35, Chief Isaac Jackson said the conduct described in the arrest is a serious violation of the department's General Orders and raises concerns about the officer's judgment, professionalism and adherence to agency standards. Jackson said he was deeply concerned and disappointed by the reported actions of former Officer Everett.

The chief also acknowledged that the department had given Everett a second chance in law enforcement after he had separated from another agency. He said the department holds all of its members to high standards of conduct and accountability.

The 2024 arrest at the Polk County Sheriff's Office

That earlier separation was from the Polk County Sheriff's Office, where Everett had worked as a deputy for about two years. On the morning of Saturday, June 22, 2024, a supervisor noticed the odor of alcohol on Everett's breath when he reported for duty and suspected he was drunk, the sheriff's office said at the time. Everett, then 27, showed numerous signs of obvious impairment on field sobriety exercises, according to Sheriff Grady Judd, and told investigators he had consumed about three coffee mugs of whiskey the night before.

Deputies took him to the sheriff's processing center and charged him with DUI. He cooperated with the investigation and resigned upon his arrest, the agency said.

Judd was blunt at the time. He said the agency holds deputies to a higher standard than the community and that Everett had failed to meet it. He said choosing to drive under the influence shows a lack of good judgment, and that anyone who lacks it about drinking and driving has no business working in law enforcement, FOX 13 reported.

The case did not end in a conviction. Court records show the State Attorney's Office abandoned the charge in May 2025, according to WWSB and FOX 13, which cited Polk County Clerk of Court records. The reason prosecutors dropped the case has not been reported.

A short tenure in Haines City

Everett joined the Haines City Police Department in July 2026, according to the department, about 14 months after the 2024 charge was dropped. His time there lasted roughly three months.

The key dates in his law enforcement career, based on agency statements and court records reported by local media, are below.

What's next

The DUI and reckless driving charges will be handled in Orange County court, where prosecutors with the State Attorney's Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit will decide whether to formally file them. Both are misdemeanors for a first offense under Florida law, though a conviction at an elevated alcohol level carries the enhanced penalties.

Separately, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission oversees officer certification statewide and can discipline or revoke it. The Haines City Police Department has not said whether it has opened an internal review of how the patrol vehicle was used, or whether its hiring review in July considered the 2024 arrest.