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Police were suspicious that Brian Dean had been taking narcotics obtained from his investigations and using them.According to an arrest affidavit, the six-year officer found 26 baggies containing marijuana and $165 in a pick-up truck on Sept. 29, after being dispatched to the vehicle on a fake call by law enforcement officers who were watching him with video surveillance. But Dean reportedly only turned in the money and 25 of the bags. Investigators said they found the missing bag of marijuana in a flash light in a box in Dean's trunk. Dean was immediately suspended and resigned the next day.

On Wednesday, the State Attorney's Office filed charges of felony official misconduct and possession of cannabis (less than 20 grams), which is a misdemeanor. He was in the Citrus County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $2,500 bail. "He violated the public trust," said Capt. Dennis Strow, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.The Gainesville Police Department and the Citrus County Sheriff's Office also worked the investigation.

Although Dean was allegedly caught with the drugs Sept. 29, officials said at the time he was not taken into custody, pending further investigation. Strow said Wednesday they needed more information to determine the charges. About three months ago, Police Chief Bob Jackson contacted FDLE because he suspected that Dean was involved in illegal activity. Strow added more charges could be pending. "This could be like opening up Pandora's Box," Strow said. In a press release on Sept. 29, Jackson said, "It hurts to think that one of my officers crossed the line and now faces possible criminal charges. However, the actions of one officer should not reflect on the professionalism of the dedicated officers serving the city of Dunnellon.

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10/11/2005 - CITRUS SPRINGS - A Citrus County sheriff's deputy is under investigation after handcuffing a 9-year-old boy at Citrus Springs Elementary School. The boy had been accused by his neighbor of using a stick to scratch his Ford Explorer.

Deputy Chris Dearden has been suspended with pay while investigators determine whether he acted "within established guidelines" Oct. 5 when he handcuffed the boy in the school guidance counselor's office and took him to Citrus County jail. The Dunnellon boy, a third-grader, is not being identified because of his age.

The State Attorney's Office will review the case and decide whether to pursue a criminal mischief charge against the boy.

The boy's mother did not return a telephone call Monday seeking comment.

Gail Tierney, a spokeswoman with the Sheriff's Office, said Sheriff Jeff Dawsy told the mother in a telephone conversation last week that the situation "could certainly have been handled differently." But he stopped short of apologizing to the mother, Tierney said.

"The sheriff is concerned, considering that we're talking about a third-grader and we're talking about a misdemeanor offense," Tierney said. "It seems there were alternatives to an outright arrest."

According to an arrest report, Dearden first confronted the boy Sept. 3 after speaking with the owner of the Ford Explorer that had been "scratched several times." The owner, according to the report, suspected the boy, though the boy denied any wrongdoing.

Several weeks later, the owner told Dearden that his son, who attends the same school, heard the boy "bragging about doing damage to the victim's vehicle."

Confronted a second time Wednesday, the boy admitted using a stick to scratch his neighbor's vehicle, Dearden said. According to the report, the boy told Dearden he "was mad at the family for bad things that they have said about his family."

In his report, Dearden noted that the boy had earlier told his parents about the incident. But the parents never ordered the boy to apologize to the neighbors, Dearden said in the report.

After the boy's confession, Dearden noted in the report, he called the boy's mother to tell her that her son was being arrested and charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. After being booked at the Citrus County Detention Center, the boy was taken back to school and released to his mother.

The boy's handcuffing is the most recent incident in a string of high-profile arrests of elementary-age students that have caused the public to question the methods police use to deal with young children.

In St. Petersburg, a 5-year-old girl was handcuffed by police March 14 at Fairmount Park Elementary School after she threw a tantrum. The arrest was caught on videotape and caused a national uproar after it was broadcast. The girl's mother said she intended to file suit against the school district.

Tierney said she could not recall another similar incident in which an elementary-age student was arrested at a school by a Citrus sheriff's deputy.

Dearden has been a deputy with the Citrus Sheriff's Office since July 2002. In August, he received a written reprimand after failing to search the inside of a building that was broken into. His personnel file also includes five letters of commendation from residents who praised his service to the community.

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09/30/2005 - ST. CLOUD, Fla. -- A St. Cloud police officer is accused of having sex with an underage girl. Officer Joey Bishop, 37, was released from jail Thursday, but was taken off the job after his own police department arrested him early Thursday morning.

The five-year veteran of the St. Cloud force was arrested for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl nearly two weeks ago.

St. Cloud detectives obtained an arrest warrant and also served Bishop with a search warrant at his home Thursday. But what, if any, evidence that was taken was not divulged. The details behind his arrest were not released either.

St. Cloud police sent out a four-sentence press release that mentioned the basics, but nothing more.

Bishop was booked into the Osceola County jail and bonded out a short time later. He was placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the case.

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09/28/2005 - An Opa-Locka police officer was arrested Tuesday night, after he was accused of hitting a pregnant woman.

Officer Vincent Robinson is charged with domestic violence and child abuse, since the woman he is alleged to have struck is pregnant.

Police have not released the details of the incident, but they did say that it happened when Robinson was off-duty.

Robinson has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

He is a nine-year veteran of the Opa-Locka Police Department.

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09/24/2005 - Prosecutors charged a Palm Beach County Sheriff's captain with two misdemeanors related to a break-in at his ex-girlfriend's house, the State Attorney's Office said.

Officer David Carhart, a 22-year Sheriff's Office veteran, was charged with one count of trespassing and one count of criminal mischief.
Carhart, 41, was placed on paid administrative leave on Aug. 1, the day he was to take charge of the special investigations division, while the Sheriff's Office conducts an internal affairs investigation, spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw will decide what punishment, if any, will be imposed when the investigation is concluded.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Carhart broke into Cheryl Griffin's house on July 31 and repeatedly called Griffin's cell phone from her home phone.

He left one message, "This is Dave, I'm drunk, I'm in your house, and you're not here."

Griffin, a Royal Palm Beach police officer, didn't return to her Palm Beach Gardens home until Carhart left another message saying he had left.

When Griffin returned to her house, the affidavit shows, she found a display on the kitchen table that had four shirts, photos, a calendar and a crayon-colored picture of a female officer.

Palm Beach Gardens police said that Carhart smashed a window to Griffin's computer room, but could not get into the house that way. He then opened the window to Griffin's bedroom and slid in.

Carhart gave Griffin a $200 check to pay for the damage he caused.

Attorney Scott Richardson said his client didn't break any laws that night.

"He had permission to enter the house," Richardson said. "He's confident that he will be exonerated."

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09/20/2005 - A Miami-Dade police officer has been relieved of duty and is under investigation for allegedly obtaining unauthorized access to Social Security numbers and other personal data on as many as 4,689 people maintained by ChoicePoint Inc.

The company, based in Alpharetta, Ga., said Friday that the U.S. Secret Service was investigating the matter but that it was unclear whether any identity theft had occurred.

The employee, ChoicePoint said in a letter to the potentially affected consumers, was not authorized to use the Miami-Dade Police Department's account with the company and ''had accessed information illegally and acted outside the scope of his employment.''

The consumer information accessed, with log-in and password, included Social Security data, drivers license numbers and dates of birth.

Detective Mary Walters, a Miami-Dade police spokewoman, said the officer involved was relieved of duty and an internal investigation was under way.

She declined to provide the officer's name or any details about where in the department the officer worked.

In mid-February, ChoicePoint disclosed that thieves posing as small business customers gained access to one of its databases, possibly compromising the personal information of some 145,000 people.

The data broker company, which warehouses and sells consumer information to government agencies and other customers including insurance companies, discovered the breach in late September 2004.

A Nigerian man pleaded no contest to one charge in that case and has subsequently been indicted in California on new federal charges including identity theft.

ChoicePoint said Friday that it had notified an additional 4,667 people who may have been affected by that breach.

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09/18/2005 - The Fernandina Beach Police Department was told in 2003 about a 16-year-old girl's allegations of sexual misconduct by police officers but did not ask for a state investigation until August 2004 - nearly two years after the alleged crimes took place.

Police administrators said Wednesday the girl retracted the allegations when interviewed by police in 2003, though a written statement denying them possibly was coerced by one of the officers now charged with sexual misconduct.

Police Chief Chip Hammond said Wednesday he did not refer the case to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement sooner because "the girl did not file a written complaint with us in 2003. She filed in August of 2004."

But a former police officer, Greg Rosier, who was later fired for sexual misconduct with another minor, said he believed the girl's allegations were credible and reported them to Hammond, Capt. James Thompson and Lt. Jim Coe in late spring of 2003.

Commissioner Joe Gerrity, then mayor, said he urged City Manager Bob Mearns that summer to ask for an FDLE investigation.

"His response was, well, let me talk to the chief and see what he has to say," Gerrity said Wednesday. "A few days later he got back to me and said he's talked to the chief, and he said there was nothing to the charges and we don't have to bring FDLE in."

Mearns said "in hindsight" he would have pressed for an investigation in 2003 based on the facts known today. But when the girl, "the sole witness," denied the substance of the allegations, "there was very little to take to FDLE," he said.

An FDLE investigation completed this year has resulted in charges against one current and two former police officers for sexual activity with the girl in 2002 while she was a member of the FBPD Explorers program.

Officer Chris Duffy, who has been suspended without pay, is charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, sexual misconduct and perjury in official proceedings. Duffy is accused of falsely answering a question about whether he met with the girl after she left the Explorers program.

Former officer James Branning is charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, official misconduct and tampering with a witness, victim or informant. Branning, the officer then in charge of the Explorers program, is accused of intimidating the girl to write a false statement denying the accusations.

Former officer Joseph Ramia has been charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

Rosier said the girl told him about the allegations in the spring of 2003, and he said he promptly informed his superiors about them. Rosier was arrested later in 2003 for sexual misconduct with another minor in a local hotel room. He was convicted and lost his job as a police officer.

"I screwed up," Rosier told the News-Leader a few weeks ago. "I took responsibility for my screw-up. They need to take responsibility for theirs."

Rosier said he believed the girl's story in 2003 because of her descriptions of what took place, and where, and said she backed off her story because of threats against her.

"Branning called her and told her not to talk," he said.

Rosier said he has continued to counsel the girl and her mother, but denied doing so because of the criminal case against him. "It's not a revenge thing. It's what's right and what's wrong," he said.

Coe said he was assigned to interview the girl after the allegations were made in 2003 and she denied them. "She was adamant that nothing had occurred," he said.

Coe said the girl told him "she had resigned from the (Explorers) program because of this flurry of rumors that had gone on." The Explorers program was disbanded that spring after rumors circulated about the girl's sexual relations with police officers.

Coe said the girl told him she made the allegations to Rosier "because he kept, in her words, badgering her until she said 'OK, yes, it's true'." But "she said, 'I promise you, (now) I'm telling you the truth'," Coe said.

He said that taped denial, combined with the written statement denying the allegations, led police administrators to believe the allegations were false.

Coe said he did make "informal" contact with FDLE and described the matter and it was jointly decided not to pursue it.

Hammond said "if it involves a serious criminal complaint, we would call (FDLE) and ask if they would take it for us."

But "rumors and hearsay, we're not going to bring anywhere," he said.

Hammond said FDLE was formally asked to investigate after the girl changed her story and made her allegations in a written complaint and interview with Thompson last August.

But, Gerrity said, "It's not fair for our (police) department to investigate itself - or common sense."

"These officers needed to be vindicated, or investigated properly and, if guilty, punished," he said.

"In the summer of 2003 I asked Mr. Mearns to bring in FDLE to investigate the police department. . . . That's what they should have done. And he refused to do it," Gerrity said. In hindsight, Gerrity said, he should have made public his request of Mearns.

"In hindsight, had I been aware of the matter, it most definitely would have been turned over to FDLE," Mearns said Thursday.

But, "As the sole witness denied the incident, there was very little to take to FDLE. However, after the witness changed her story, the matter was immediately referred to FDLE," he said.

"We followed our policies and it's brought us to where we are today. Let the court handle it from here," Hammond said. He declined to comment on other details of the case because it's a pending criminal matter.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.

Branning in jail

James Branning, a former city police officer accused of threatening employees of the Fernandina Beach Police Department, remains in Nassau County Jail.

Assistant State Attorney Doc Burgess said Branning is being held without bond for a charge of corruption by threat against a public servant.

A hearing on a motion to revoke a $250,002 bond for a separate charge for allegedly having sexual relations with an underage girl was postponed Thursday.

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09/14/2005 - VOLUSIA COUNTY -- A sheriff's patrol deputy accused of domestic violence against his wife received a letter of reprimand and was ordered to participate in counseling.

Robert Nance, who patrols the New Smyrna Beach area, was arrested July 19 on charges of misdemeanor domestic-violence battery. According to the report, he accosted his wife when she arrived home and accused her of having an affair. He also admitted to deputies he had a drinking problem after his wife told them he had consumed at least 12 beers that day.

Prosecutors never filed charges against Nance because there wasn't enough evidence that Nance intended to strike his wife, State Attorney spokeswoman Linda Pruitt said. But the Sheriff's Office determined he violated two department policies as part of an internal investigation -- misdemeanor injurious to the department and conduct that reflects unfavorably on the county.

Nance, 34, was on paid administrative leave until July 30 and returned to his patrol duties this week. But he still must undergo counseling, including alcohol treatment.

According to his file, Nance said he developed a drinking problem after responding to the scene of a double homicide in March. He said he developed personal "issues" with what he saw at the scene.

On March 28, Julie and Aeneas Hernlen were found shot in their Ellison Avenue home. Their 5-year-old daughter was home at the time and called 911. She was not injured.

The prime suspect, David Johnson, was found later that day, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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09/12/2005 - A current and two former Fernandina Beach Police officers turned themselves in to authorities Wednesday on charges including unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

James Allen Branning, 35, Tawn Christopher Duffy, 36, and Joseph Simon Ramia, 36, turned themselves in to the Nassau County Sheriff's Office Wednesday after a warrant for their arrest was issued the day before by the State Attorney's Office.

Branning left the Fernandina Beach Police Department earlier this year, and Ramia left the department in 2003. Duffy, still an FBPD police officer, has been suspended without pay, according to Police Chief Chip Hammond.

The charges stem from allegations made by a member of the Fernandina Beach Police Explorers Club that she had sexual relations with the police officers in 2002. The girl was 16 when the incidents reportedly occurred. The club was disbanded in 2003.

Hammond said the allegations first came to light in August 2004 when the victim contacted police Capt. James Thompson and told him about the alleged incidents, which he said reportedly happened in 2002.

"Capt. Thompson took the complaint from her and we called (the Florida Department of Law Enforcement) and asked if they would do the investigation, which is standard procedure," Hammond said.

The FDLE investigated the claims and turned the results of its investigation over to the State Attorney's Office in July.

After reviewing the investigation, Assistant State Attorney "Doc" Burgess ruled that Branning, Duffy and Ramia would be prosecuted. Charges were not filed against at least one other current FBPD officer who was connected with the investigation.

Hammond said he was not surprised at the outcome of the investigation.

"I have every confidence that (the FDLE and the State Attorney's Office) looked at the case carefully," Hammond said, adding that he worked with the FDLE on the investigation. "These things are very difficult."

Hammond said Duffy will not be returned to duty until the outcome of the case against him, and he said depending on what is found in the criminal case, further action could be taken against Duffy prior to the outcome.

Branning, Duffy and Ramia have been each been charged with unlawful sexual activity by a person over the age of 23 with a person who is 16 or 17 years old. If convicted of that charge, they could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $10,000.

Duffy has also been charged with perjury in official proceedings, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor.

Branning has also been charged with official misconduct and tampering with a witness, victim or informant, a felony.

Branning and Duffy are being held at the Nassau County Jail on $250,002 bond. Ramia was released from jail Sept. 7 on $150,002 bond.

Eric Block, a Jacksonville attorney representing Duffy and Branning, called the decision to file charges "shocking" but declined further comment at press time.

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09/05/2005 - A Lakeland police officer was arrested early Sunday on a charge of driving under the influence.

Officer Matthew Thomas Beckley, 32, was arrested shortly after midnight when Polk County sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a black 2005 Mercedes in a ditch next to Jim Keene Boulevard, off Winter Lake Road between Winter Haven and Lakeland. Deputies found the driver asleep, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Deputies awakened officer Beckley who performed poorly in a series of sobriety tests, and he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, the Sheriff's Office said.

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02/01/2006 - A little more than two years ago, Mario Barcia Jr. was awakened in the dead of night by banging on his door. Startled -- and shaken from two previous robberies -- he grabbed his gun and ran to the front of the house.

Within a matter of seconds his life would change forever. Seeing what he described only as a bright light shining through his back door, Barcia fired a single shot.

Five shots were returned. Then Barcia fired twice more.

His first shot had hit Miami-Dade County police officer Chad Murphy in the back.

Barcia was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, a crime that could have left him imprisoned for life. Murphy, wearing a flak jacket, survived with a bloody bruise.

On Wednesday, it took a Miami-Dade County jury less than 30 minutes to decide Barcia did nothing wrong in shooting Murphy, who had entered Barcia's property without permission or a warrant.

But the cost to Barcia, a former Miami-Dade County Family Court clerk, and his family has been substantial: In the past two years Barcia has lost his job and his home, and had to serve house arrest while watching his now-19-month-old son grow.

Still, between hugs from family members on the third floor of the county criminal courthouse, Barcia said he holds no grudge against the state for pressing forward on what he considered an unfair case.

''I'm just glad it's behind me,'' he said. ``They were just doing their jobs. I just wish they'd have been honest.''

Barcia's story began well before the early morning of Oct. 24, 2003, when he shot Murphy. Twice, his South Dade home had been vandalized. Fearing for his well-being and that of his then-pregnant wife Mercedes, Barcia bought a gun in August 2003.

Two months later Sgt. David Dominguez and police officer Thomas Wever were driving down 208th Street near Barcia's home when they heard what they thought was a rock hit their car. They decided to search for who did it, and called for back up.

When help arrived, Murphy and Dominguez made their way over a wall and into Barcia's yard. Both had bright flashlights. At one point Murphy entered a screened porch where French doors led into the home, while Dominguez waited outside it.

About the same time, other officers were banging on Barcia's front door. The noise woke him up.

That's where the state's and Barcia's stories differ. The state claims Barcia peeked out the front window, realized there were police officers there, and shot at an officer outside on purpose.

During the fracas, his wife dialed 911. At one point the operator told Barcia he may have shot a cop. Barcia is heard clearly on the tape saying it was a burglar.

Barcia's attorney, Ronald Lowy, told jurors a different version of events: By the time Barcia made his way to the front of the home, the knocking had stopped -- and all he saw was a bright flashlight pointed directly at him through the window.

Lowy highlighted that point during closing arguments, shutting off the lights in Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Rosa Rodriguez's courtroom, then shining the bright light into the eyes of each juror for a few seconds.

It was impossible to see who was behind the flashlight.

''When someone comes into your house, over a 7-foot fence at 12:40 a.m., you don't expect it to be the police,'' said Lowy. ``They were unlawfully there.''

Before the jury left to consider their verdict, Judge Rodriguez explained it is contrary to law for a police officer to enter a private residence without a search warrant or permission from the homeowner unless it's a very unusual circumstance.

If Barcia had a reason to believe a felony was being committed on his property, or that his or others lives were in danger, the judge added, he could legally fend for himself.

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02/01/2006 - BOCA RATON — When a restaurant manager gave two police officers a box of steaks a day after Hurricane Wilma, she thought they would share the meat with their department.

Officers Dean Coviello and Michael Porter thought the 11 steaks were just for them and took the food home.

Several days later, after another manager asked two other officers how they enjoyed the steaks, rumors started flying around the Boca Raton Police Department. It sparked a two-month internal affairs investigation that resulted in letters of reprimand for both men.

Officers Coviello and Porter "displayed a severe lack of good judgment" and violated the city and police department's "gifts and gratuity" policy by accepting the free food, according to an internal affairs report released Monday.

"Even if the officers' perception was that the steaks were meant for them, they could not keep the steaks," Lt. Frank Ricciardi wrote in the report.

Coviello and Porter stopped at Abe and Louie's Steakhouse on West Glades Road after Hurricane Wilma to answer manager Amy Canbpa's questions about garbage pickup and electricity, according to the report.

Employees were throwing out defrosted steaks, so Canbpa offered them to Coviello. He declined, but Canbpa insisted, saying the meat would just go to waste otherwise, the report shows.

The next day, Coviello went back to the restaurant to thank Canbpa. She gave him three bags of shrimp and said it was for the officers and their families, according to the report. Coviello kept a bag and gave the others to Porter and officer Eric Van Hof.

Canbpa said she told the officers to take the steaks back to the department and grill them, according to the report. But Canbpa said she's not "completely sure" she mentioned the department.

"I have no proof the officers took something intended for the department," Ricciardi wrote.

But Coviello and Porter worked in the aftermath of 2004 storms Frances and Jeanne and should have known that the department cooked donated food for officers working "around the clock with no days off," according to the report.

Officers Coviello and Porter are "good officers who have never been disciplined before," police union President Dave Skrabec said. Coviello joined the force in October 1999. Porter was hired in November 2001.

Skrabec said the union and its attorney will review the internal affairs report and its findings.

"We'll see if the punishment fits the crime," Skrabec said.

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