A video of the incident was caught on a nearby surveillance camera, and shows Ross approaching the woman, while dressed as an officer and handing her a fake ticket.
According to the arrest report, Ross told the woman he was writing her a ticket for parking in a handicap spot. After realizing she wasn’t in a handicap spot, she then asked which agency Ross worked for, which reportedly made him act more aggressive. After making her scared for her own safety, Ross then tried to defuse the situation with some free concert tickets.
Ross was released Friday on a $10,000 bond, and faces charges of impersonating an officer.
“Here’s the costume Charles Ross was wearing during the incident. Now, he’s wearing the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office costume.”
– Sheriff Knight pic.twitter.com/j4MGrccBWn
— SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) April 5, 2019
It’s unclear exactly what the joke was meant to be other than getting himself arrested, but according to WFTS, Ross has been arrested in the past for incredibly dumb pranks gone wrong.
In 2013, Ross was arrested for misdemeanor battery at a Bradenton movie theater for giving random strangers wedgies. "The idea was just to like give strangers wedgies, it sounds funny, but it's not once you're the one being given the wedgie," Ross told the station.
According to the Miami Herald, Ross has quite a few previous arrests in Manatee County, including a grand theft charge after stealing a stop sign in March 2017, and two battery charges in April 2014 and January 2013.
It’s also unknown when Ross’ new YouTube video featuring his fake arrest will debut.
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This article appears in Apr 4-11, 2019.