Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez took office after being charged with assault Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in an executive order.
Lopez faces charges in the 9th Circuit covering Osceola and the 5th Judicial Circuit covering his neighbors, but his case has not yet been featured in court records. Christopher Blackmon, the central region chief of the Florida Highway Patrol, was appointed to replace him, DeSantis’ order said.
The governor’s order is the first official confirmation of Lopez’s charges, and includes a conspiracy to commit an assault. The circumstances surrounding the charges, and when he appears before the judge – are unknown.
A spokesman for the U.S. Lawyer’s Office said the case is being handled by the prosecutor’s office throughout the state.
Since being first elected in 2020, Lopez has faced a vortex of criticism about how he treated his office. One of these cases, 20-year-old Jaden Baez, 20, was murdered in Target’s parking lot in 2022 – he was the subject of an investigation by Orange Osceora State Attorney Monique Worrell before DeSantis stopped her in August 2023.
It is not clear what the results of that investigation, or whether it has been completed.
This is an updated, developing story.
