Former FCSO Deputy Facing Additional Stalking Charges

Bunnell, FL – A former Flagler County deputy who was already arrested for aggravated stalking is facing additional charges after further investigation finds another instance of him stalking and threatening another victim. Dedorious Varnes was suspended by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office back in July after an internal investigation found that he was calling and threatening a 67-year-old battery victim for three months, following an incident off of Angela Drive in February. Initially, investigators believed that the person making the threatening calls was the original battery suspect. But, further investigation determined that the number was linked to Varnes, which led to his arrest and suspension. Now investigators are saying that the 67-year-old man from February wasn’t Varnes’ only victim. According to their report, investigators found out that Varnes had made a "Text Now" phone number in June of 2019, less than a year before the initial incident that started the investigation. Investigators also say that a resident in Palm Coast’s "P" section filed an online complaint against Varnes a day after he responded to a call in that area. The complainant stated that Varnes’ did not handle the call for service sufficiently. Varnes was then directed by a supervisor to contact the complainant and handle the call properly. However, the complainant later told detectives that Varnes did call regarding the incident but was rude, which caused them to hang up on Varnes. In the weeks following that call, the complainant received numerous text messages from Varnes’ "Text Now" number, implying that an inappropriate relationship was occurring between him and the complainant’s wife, per FCSO’s release. And the matter didn’t stop there. FCSO further stated that the complainant also received threatening messages and photos of his home from the same number. They eventually checked their home’s surveillance system and found an FCSO patrol car passing their house around the same time they received the messages.  Detectives then pulled the GPS coordinates from Varnes’ patrol vehicle and determined that it was Varnes’ his car driving by the victim’s home, even though he was not on a call for service in the area and had to drive out of his way to drive past the victim’s home. Investigators also dug up two separate text conversations on Varnes’ "Text Now" number with two women that were happening during the same time frame as the threatening messages to the victim. Both women admitted to talking to Varnes, while Varnes admitted to speaking with the women. Varnes’ resigned from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office on August 4th, according to their release. “This is an instance of a rogue officer tarnishing the badge,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This type of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated and to see that he has done it on more than one occasion is appalling. He is an embarrassment to the law enforcement profession and deserves to go to prison. We are doing everything we can to have the state revoke his law enforcement certificate.” An arrest warrant for Varnes’ was signed on Thursday (August 27th). Since then, he has been arrested and booked into the Flagler County Jail on a $25,000 bond. News Daytona Beach is unaware if Varnes’ remains in custody or not.