3 Keys sheriff’s employees arrested over domestic fights in less than a month, cops say
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has been hit with an unusual wave of arrests in the past month — with three female employees facing misdemeanor battery charges after their partners or exes said they were hurt during heated arguments.
In one case, a wife said she was scratched after jewelry was ripped from her neck; in another, a woman said she was scraped after being pushed down several steps; and a man claimed he was bit.
The latest woman arrested is a deputy working as a school resource officer. Another one is a civilian records clerk and a third is a deputy who works in corrections. Though one of the cases has already been dropped, all three women are the subject of separate internal affairs investigations.
Adam Lindhardt, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said Wednesday he couldn’t comment further about the trio of arrests.
“We just don’t comment on IA cases until they’re resolved, for legal reasons,” he said.
Deputy Lauren Landa, 31, a resource officer at Ocean Studies Charter School in Key Largo, was arrested Tuesday by Homestead police. Her wife said Landa grabbed a necklace from around her throat during an argument, leaving scratches on her chest and neck, according to the arrest report.
The woman said she was refusing to give Landa her car keys because “she had not paid her part of the bills,” police said.
When she would not hand over the keys, Landa tried to take her wife’s cellphone and necklace, saying she had paid for both, police said.
Judge orders school resource officer to stay away from wife
On Wednesday, a judge ordered Landa’s release after issuing a stay-away order against her, court records show.
The Herald does not name people who say they have been victims of domestic violence.
“I was disappointed to hear of this incident,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement. “We will investigate it fully and take appropriate action.”
Landa, who could not be reached for comment, has been employed by the sheriff’s office since Jan. 2, 2019, according to the agency. Her arraignment is scheduled for April 11, court records show.
Sheriff’s employee had ‘strong odor of alcoholic beverages’
On Saturday, three days before Landa’s arrest, Alexsa Lashae Rahming, a sheriff’s office civilian employee, was arrested by Key West police after cops say the 27-year-old pushed her ex-girlfriend to the ground and down three steps, causing cuts to her elbow.
A Monroe County judge ordered Rahming to have no contact with her ex. Rahming, who was released from jail later that day, could not be reached for comment.
At 2:52 a.m., officers were dispatched after receiving a call about a physical altercation in the 300 block of Angela Street in Key West. When they arrived, they found Rahming’s ex-girlfriend with a scraped bloody left elbow crying inside her apartment, according to her arrest report.
Cops located Rahming a few blocks away at her father’s residence, where they noticed she was slurring her speech and had a “strong odor of alcoholic beverages” coming from her body, the arrest report says. According to police, Rahming told them she wanted to get her belongings from the apartment.
But cops told Rahming, who works at the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island as a records clerk, she had been “advised” earlier that night to stay away from her ex during a separate altercation. Officers had also told Rahming to contact them before trying to retrieve her property again, according to her arrest report.
Rahming’s next court date is scheduled for April 7, a Monroe County Clerk of Court staff said Thursday.
Keys deputy arrested by Miami-Dade police
And late last month, a recently hired sheriff’s office detention deputy was arrested by Miami-Dade police after biting her ex-boyfriend, according to authorities.
Takila Johnson, 31, who had less than a month working in the sheriff’s office, bit her ex-boyfriend while off-duty at 10 a.m. Feb. 27 in the 17900 block of Southwest 97th Avenue, the sheriff’s office said in a statement, citing the Miami-Dade Police Department.
According to the arrest report, Johnson showed up at the home she had shared with her ex-boyfriend and tried to enter with her key, but the latch was on the door. He let her in and she saw that there was another woman inside, an officer wrote in the report. The two then got in a “physical altercation,” police said. She later turned herself into police.
On Wednesday, the charges against Johnson were dropped after her ex-boyfriend refused to give police a sworn statement, Yaneth D. Baez, assistant state attorney with the Office of the State Attorney in Miami, said later that day in an email.
“This incident was not observed by the officer nor were there any witnesses so without the victim’s cooperation, we did not have a good faith basis in order to be able to file criminal charges,” she said.
Johnson could not be reached for comment.
According to Lindhardt, there are 377 sworn officers and 232 civilian staff working for the sheriff’s office, totaling 609 employees.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
