Cop Quadrant

Date of Incident: May 10, 2025
Location: Edgewater, Florida; Edgewater Police Department

Daniel Rippeon, former police officer

At approximately 10 p.m. on May 10, 2025, 22-year-old Paul Wert had just finished his shift at a local CVS and was waiting for his Lyft ride home when he was approached by Edgewater Police Officer Daniel Rippeon. Without articulating any crime or reasonable suspicion, the officer demanded Wert’s identification and threatened to tase him if he did not comply. Wert remained seated on a public bench and asserted that he had broken no law requiring him to provide ID.

Even after confirming that Wert’s account was truthful and that no criminal activity had occurred, Officer Rippeon arrested him solely for refusing to identify himself. Florida Statute §901.151 requires that when no probable cause for arrest develops after a temporary detention, the individual must be released. Instead, Wert was jailed, lost his job, and now carries a criminal record — raising serious concerns about unlawful detention and retaliatory policing by the Edgewater Police Department.

Paul Wert (blurred to protect identity) from Rippeon’s Bodycam, Taser out because he didn’t get ID

[VIDEO] – Watch this video of the incident, courtesy of John H. Bryan’s Channel, The Civil Rights Lawyer

Video of the encounter clearly shows that Officer Daniel Rippeon had established no probable cause to detain Paul Wert. The officer is heard acknowledging that Wert did, in fact, work at CVS and appeared to be telling the truth. Despite this, Wert’s invocation of his Fourth Amendment rights was treated as defiance rather than lawful conduct, and he was arrested for obstruction — a charge that was later dismissed.

Following the incident, Officer Rippeon was reportedly given the option to resign voluntarily, a move critics describe as an undercut tactic that avoids formal accountability. Wert, meanwhile, suffered immediate consequences: he was terminated from his job at CVS despite having committed no crime. Advocates argue the case highlights how unlawful police actions can cascade into lasting personal and financial harm, and note that Wert may have grounds to pursue both civil rights claims and wrongful termination remedies.

Disgraceful Rippeon next to Dennis Benigno, the disgraceful founder of dirty Street Cop Training

Officer Rippeon’s conduct illustrates the dangers of law enforcement exceeding their authority. While officers may engage the public in a voluntary, consensual encounter, they cannot detain individuals based on hunches or personal feelings. This incident, classified by COP QUADRANT as a BC-GS encounter — “Bad Cop vs. Good Samaritan” — shows that Wert had done nothing wrong, while Rippeon acted improperly. Rippeon’s approach appears influenced by training programs such as Street Cop Training, which has gained national attention for teaching officers to treat the public as adversaries rather than citizens to protect. For more on the program, see their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@streetcoptraining7978.

COP QUADRANT has not yet contacted any parties involved but intends to report on the case to inform the public. Law enforcement actions that affect individual rights are always of public interest. Current information indicates Officer Rippeon is no longer employed by the Edgewater Police Department, though it is unknown whether he has joined another agency — a scenario advocates warn occurs more often than the public realizes.

Cop Quadrant is an unincorporated media agency, backed by the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Press) providing news updates and information pertaining to encounters by law enforcement. All persons arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.