The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Uwe Gerhard Lorenz. He gets the award for impersonating an FBI agent here in Palm Beach County.

Read the Palm Beach Post story below. As dumb as Mr. Lorenz is, there are some other dim bulbs in the story. From the police who failed to arrest Lorenz last summer to the gated community that gave Lorenz access. As I say the world is full of nuts. Unfortunately half of them seem to live in South Florida.

Uwe Gerhard Lorenz is today's Knucklehead of the day.

Linked to- Adam's Blog, Basil's Blog, Bright & Early, Jo's Cafe, Right Wing Nation, Third World County, Outside the Beltway, Mudville Gazette, Is it just me?, Pirate's Cove, Wakeup America,

WELLINGTON — Uwe Gerhard Lorenz had all the trappings of an FBI agent.

The gun.

The unmarked patrol car.

The "FBI" T-shirts.

The scanner.

And the police bravado to boot.

It turns out, however, that Lorenz, 45, was a skinny-dipping, nanny-canoodling, police-impersonating German import who authorities believe shook down local motorists for cash and brandished his police persona like a 100-pound billy club.

"He claimed he could kill people with his bare hands, so obviously he was trying to intimidate people as well," said Lt. Jay Hart of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

But local law enforcement say they don't believe his tales, including the one about him being a former colonel in the German military. And some of his other lies have already unraveled, they add.

The FBI is investigating whether to charge him with impersonating a federal agent, agency spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said.

On Monday, however, they did charge Lorenz of 4532 Emerald Vista Drive in Lake Worth with illegally possessing a firearm as a foreign national.

Days earlier, deputies arrested Lorenz in Wellington on charges of having a expired driver license and possessing a police scanner. A resident of The Isles tipped off investigators.

Florida issued Lorenz a concealed weapons permit to carry his .45-caliber hand gun after the state had denied him a similar license earlier, according to a sheriff's office investigation.

"The thing that bothers me the most is, how in the world did this guy get a concealed weapons permit?" deputy Juan Olivia said. Olivia began investigating Lorenz after a woman in her 70s found Lorenz swimming nude with a woman five months ago at the Journey's End clubhouse pool west of Lake Worth.

There was insufficient evidence then to prosecute him on charges of indecent exposure or for allegedly impersonating an officer after he was confronted by clubhouse staff, according to a sheriff's report.

"It's not normal for someone to go around with a gun and impersonate a police officer with lights on his car," Olivia added.

There may be more victims.

"We're asking the public, if they recognize this gentleman, to come forward," Hart said Tuesday while announcing Lorenz's arrest. "He has claimed that he has stopped people in the past, and he has taken money from them."

He also told Wellington residents he had killed several people as an FBI agent, an arrest report said.

Deputies in Wellington were alerted to Lorenz last week, when a resident of The Isles complained about him. The resident hired a nanny who was engaged to Lorenz. The resident said Lorenz repeatedly bragged about his FBI undercover work and used fake police credentials to gain access to the gated community, deputies said.

Deputies set up a sting operation and caught him displaying fake police badges to a security guard, according to a sheriff's report.

Deputies stopped Lorenz after he ran a stop sign in the community. They found police gear in his 2000 black Ford Crown Victoria: It was decked out with tinted windows, two mounted spotlights, a DUI video camera and strobe lights in the front and rear.

"Truly, he had more equipment in his vehicle than some of my deputies," Hart said.

That didn't include three cases or so of ammunition and shotgun shells, a Taser, pepper spray and "Police" and "FBI" T-shirts, according to a sheriff's report. Deputies also said later he had about a half dozen bottles of prescription medicine, including the sleeping pill Ambien.