By Elizabeth Behrman
Tampa Tribune
TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa police officer who slammed a woman to the ground while arresting her after a traffic stop was justified in his use of force, a police internal affairs investigation has determined.
Officer Kevin Fitzpatrick, who has been with the Tampa Police Department for about a year-and-a-half, was the subject of an internal affairs investigation after Liz Vargas Juarbe filed a complaint after her arrest last year. A dash cam video shows Fitzpatrick struggling to put Vargas in handcuffs before taking her forcefully to the ground, knocking her chin and shoulder into the pavement in the process.
The video, which was released after Vargas’ lawyers requested it in court, shows the pair arguing outside West Tampa Elementary School, where Vargas had just dropped off her daughter on Nov. 5. In a police report, Fitzpatrick wrote that he stopped Vargas because of an illegal tinted, plastic cover on the license plate of her 1993 Buick.
Fitzpatrick’s microphone was not working that day so their exchange cannot be heard on the video.
In a letter released Wednesday that outlines the department’s decision, officials wrote that Fitzpatrick was not guilty of excessive force but that he did not adhere to department policies regarding the non-working microphone.
The video, the letter states, shows that he attempted to call for back-up while struggling to get handcuffs on Fitzpatrick but couldn’t get through to dispatch because his radio was set to the wrong frequency.
“Based on the fact that he attempted to call for back up with negative results, the fact that the defendant did not stay in her vehicle during the traffic stop and the amount of difficulty he was having placing her into handcuffs in the standing position, I believe the officer felt he had no other option available other than to use a takedown maneuver in order to get her to the ground to obtain control,” wrote Captain Calvin Johnson.
The letter also states that Fitzpatrick checked his microphone at the start of his shift, per department protocol, but failed to report to his supervisor that it wasn’t working at the time.
He was cited for failure to comply with departmental policies and given a verbal counseling at the time the incident occurred, TPD spokesman Steve Hegarty said.
Vargas said Wednesday that she was shocked by the decision.
“He did use excessive force on me,” she said. “He did slam me on the ground. He wasn’t supposed to touch me at all and treat me like that.”
Given what was shown on the video, Vargas’ lawyer said, the department’s decision is “surprising.”
“They talk about her resisting arrest, but they never mention at any point ... what she was being placed under arrest for,” said Brett Szematowicz, one of Vargas’ lawyers at Greater Tampa Law.
The dash cam video shows Fitzpatrick spotted Vargas’ car as she was pulling into the drop-off line at the elementary school. After she moves out of the line, she pulls into a parking spot nearby and Fitzpatrick pulls in behind her.
Vargas gets out of her car, and as Fitzpatrick walks toward her he gestures toward the back bumper of her car.
Fitzpatrick asked for her license and registration. Vargas said her registration was in her glove compartment, but that the compartment’s handle was broken. She said she forgot her license at home in her rush to get out the door and get her daughter to school, but she was able to give her drivers license from memory.
The pair can be seen talking, and the conversation quickly escalates into an argument. Fitzpatrick grabs Vargas and attempts to put handcuffs on her as she screams for help. The video shows the two struggling for a few seconds before Fitzpatrick pushes Vargas to the ground.
A resource officer from the school runs over to help.
Vargas, 34, was charged with obstructing or opposing an officer without violence, a misdemeanor.
“You can’t arrest someone for a tinted tag, you just can’t,” Szematowicz said.
The department investigators framed their decision in a way that allowed them to find Fitzpatrick’s use of force justified, said Jason Bard, Vargas’ other lawyer. The arrest itself was not justified, he said.
“They’ve ignored what I think is the most important part,” Bard said after reviewing the investigation’s findings. “That he didn’t have a reason to do that to begin with.”
In an evaluation conducted at the end of his year-long probationary period, Fitzpatrick’s supervisors said he ranked “below expectations” in the areas of adherence to department policies and procedures, thoroughness of investigations and performance under stressful conditions. As a result, his probationary period was extended an additional 90 days and successfully concluded in May.
Vargas completed 16 hours of community service in the kitchen at Metropolitan Ministries; in exchange, prosecutors did not pursue her case. A single mother who has no prior arrests, Vargas said she is still nervous whenever she sees a police car. She’s still deciding whether she wants to file a civil lawsuit.
“What he did to me, it’s not all the cops’ fault,” she said. “It’s his fault.”
Copyright 2015 the Tampa Tribune