Deputy stared at co-worker, gave ‘unsolicited hugs,’ Florida cops say. He’s fired

A sheriff’s deputy has been fired after a co-worker accused him of staring at her and touching her inappropriately, according to a news release from a Florida sheriff’s office.

A young employee who’d recently been hired and was being trained told investigators that Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy was staring at her inappropriately during a two-week period in April 2022, according to a news release from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

She said the deputy “liked to be closer” to her and described him as “weird” and “creepy,” the release says.

On Oct. 18, 2022, the 48-year-old deputy went up to the woman while she was conducting safety screenings at the Pinellas County Justice Center, and put his arm around her back and hugged her from the side, the release says. He also asked her if she planned to attend a hockey game with him and other sheriff’s office employees, authorities said.

The next day, he approached her from behind and started massaging her shoulders, according to the release. He then leaned in and tried to hug her as she “made an obvious effort to lean away,” the release says. He started rubbing her back and referred to her as “babe,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Another deputy who saw the contact reported it to a superior, who opened an investigation, according to the release.

The woman told investigators that the deputy’s actions made her feel “uncomfortable” and “embarrassed,” the release says.

The deputy, who had been working for the sheriff’s office since 2009, later said during an administrative interview that he had given the woman “unsolicited hugs,” massaged her shoulders and rubbed her back, according to the sheriff’s office. He said that when touching the woman he was acting from a “fatherly standpoint.”

He said that when he was staring at her during her job training, he was “ trying to get a feel for her as a person, as a co-worker” and that he wanted to make her ‘feel welcome,’” the release says.

He acknowledged during a final review board hearing that his actions weren’t appropriate or professional and that he violated the sheriff’s office policy, the release says.

He was fired on Monday, Jan. 23, according to the release.