DETECTIVE A CONVICT, POLICE SAY

TAMPA - A convict tries to convince a Tampa teen he's an undercover
detective to get some extra cash and a date, police say.

The man told Patricia Rubio he was an undercover police detective
working a drug bust in Ybor City. In fact, he was a 24-year-old
convict assigned to pick up trash near Seventh Avenue.

The man told Rubio the police story after he hit her Mustang at Tampa
Bay Center on Sunday night. He told her she could be in big trouble,
mentioning court, fines and jail for the 19-year-old.

Then he offered a deal in the rainy mall parking lot.

He said for $1,000 or a date he would forget the whole thing. He would
tell his top-secret connections to tear up the paperwork .

Two days later, Rubio decided to accept the date. She drove to the
man's chosen spot, a Burger King on 50th Street, with three new
friends - real detectives.

Tuesday, Tampa police detectives arrested Reynaldo Otero and charged
him with extortion, impersonating a police officer, harassing
telephone calls, driving with a suspended license and leaving the
scene of an accident.

Rubio, a Hillsborough Community College student, said she was never
convinced the skinny man with acne was a top detective. She said she
had more doubts when Otero told her to get into his car.

``I was just crying and very nervous,'' she said. ``He asked my name,
how old I was and if I had a boyfriend. He asked what I was doing here
`all alone, all beautiful.' ''

Otero let her go after talking to her parents on his cell phone, she
said. He called Rubio several times late Sunday and early Monday at
her home, said Sgt. Rick Dias of Tampa police.

Otero also gave Rubio his real name and a cell phone number that
police finally tracked to him.

``He wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer,'' Dias
said.

When Otero called Rubio again Tuesday morning, detectives were
listening. She bargained him down to $300. Otero said he could only
take a short lunch break from working with the feds to get the cash.
But Dias said it was the only time Otero could take a break from
picking up trash as a condition of his house arrest.

Otero was convicted of stealing a car and wears an electronic monitor
on his ankle, Dias said.

Otero continued to act the police officer part during the exchange for
cash, police said .

``He played it to the hilt,'' Dias said. ``When he got the money, he
got on a cell phone and pretended to talk to a supervisor. I guess
he's been watching too much TV.''

Otero is in Hillsborough County Jail. His bail is $11,750.