By Paul Quinlan
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Fort Pierce police arrested one of their own officers Wednesday, accusing him of fondling a 15-year-old girl whom he caught half-naked with a man in a car parked at the beach.
Police say officer Dwight Lavickus Toombs, 33, handcuffed the 20-year-old man and fondled the girl several times under the guise of collecting evidence, an arrest report said. He then had the two drive him back to his patrol car, the report said.
Toombs, who once was suspended for taking a meal break at a porn shop and accepting a free video, joined the force in 2001 and was assigned to neighborhood policing. He was booked at the St. Lucie County jail Wednesday on three felony counts of sexual battery on a person 12 years or older as a government agent and three felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery. He is being held in lieu of $900,000 bail.
Police began investigating Toombs after the girl’s parents lodged a complaint. According to the arrest report, the incident happened shortly after 10 p.m. Dec. 18 at Kimberly Bergalis Park, when Toombs tapped the car window with his flashlight.
The girl, who was wearing only a T-shirt at the time, told police Toombs asked for ID from both and then ordered the 20-year-old out of the car, handcuffing him. He then came around to the passenger side and fondled her, telling her he was checking to see if the two had been having sex.
The girl said he offered to let her off with a “warning,” so long as her parents knew they were out. Police say Toombs borrowed her cellphone and called them, asking if they knew their daughter’s whereabouts. Toombs then got in the back seat and had them drive him back to his patrol car, the report said.
There, Toombs allegedly used rubber gloves to fondle her again. The report said he also had the girl fondle herself with a glove, which he had her sign, telling her it would be used as evidence, the report said.
The report describes how, in the days afterward, Toombs tried to cover up what happened, contacting the 20-year-old man and a fellow officer, who had been called to the scene as backup that night.
Police Chief Sean Baldwin called the allegations “extremely disheartening” but pledged a full investigation and prosecution.
“Our officers work extremely hard every day to maintain the public’s trust,” Baldwin said. “Even an allegation of this nature just tears this public trust apart. It’s very difficult for our officers to deal with this. It hurts and it’s embarrassing.” Toombs was put on administrative leave with pay on Dec. 20 and will remain on paid leave until the department completes an internal investigation.
He has faced disciplinary problems in addition to his two-day suspension in January for taking a meal break at a porn shop with two other officers, one of whom was his trainee. Toombs was fired briefly in 2004 over allegations that he beat an 11-year-old runaway boy with a belt.
But Toombs won an appeal and returned to road patrol after one of the witnesses’ credibility was called into question.
Copyright 2007 The Palm Beach Post