Lee deputy, corrections clerk fired, two more deputies suspended after internal affairs investigations

NAPLES — A Lee County deputy and corrections clerk were fired and two other deputies suspended without pay following the outcome of recent internal affairs investigations.

n Deputy Eric Freese, who has been employed since July 14, 2008, had his appointment withdrawn Wednesday, following the outcome of two recent investigations.

The first one was opened Feb. 8 after three complaints were received against Freese in a seven day period.

One was for abusive language and profanity against a citizen during a traffic stop that was unfounded. However two others — not properly processing evidence and neglect of duty — were founded.

The second investigation began March 23 and involved allegations of willful neglect of duties and failure to maintain knowledge of rules, regulations and procedures allegations were sustained.

In a hit-and-run case, Freese is accused of failing to complete required reports after being told to do so by a supervisor and writing down incorrect information about the suspect vehicle, even though dispatchers had sent the information to him.

On a burglary call, Freese is accused of not taking any prints and removing a coin jar, which remained in the trunk of his cruiser. He also failed to do a proper neighborhood canvas.

Finally when Freese was sent to a disturbance on Catalpa Cove Drive in Fort Myers about a man and woman fighting, he is accused of leaving the scene without offering any help to the victim. Another deputy told him to stay with the woman until the man was contacted. Freese said the woman looked like a “crack whore” and he did not think anything of her walking around with marks on her. The man was ultimately arrested for battery/domestic violence and admitted to putting his hands on her neck.

Freese told investigators he had not been properly trained.

■ A sergeant who sent an unauthorized e-mail to Florida Highway Patrol headquarters in Tallahassee was given 10.5 hours off without pay.

Sgt. Greg Kircikyan, a deputy since 1993, sent the e-mail on Feb. 26 through the FHP’s Web site saying: “I would like to know how almost every day there are no troopers available in Lee County, especially for crashed (sic) on the interstate. I see troopers checked out in every county except Lee County and yet no one is available. I know sometimes thing (sic) are going on but this is the saddest county for FHP.” The e-mail was forwarded by officials in Tallahassee to FHP Capt. Timothy Culhane, district commander of Troop F, who sent the e-mail to the Sheriff’s Office. An investigation was opened March 3.

Kircikyan wrote a letter to Sheriff Mike Scott apologizing for any embarrassment to Scott or the agency. “My e-mail was a culmination of frustration with the Florida Highway patrol through the years,” he wrote, saying he found FHP unavialable to respond to calls more frequently lately.

He promised never to send an e-mail again from his Sheriff’s Office account.

■ The corrections clerk, Leah Anderson, who was employed for two years, was fired for conduct unbecoming a member after video evidence showed she threw a beer can at a neighbor’s car, breaking the headlight, which was reported on March 16. She admitted to another instance of throwing a beer can at the car, but it was not caught on tape. She was mad at the neighbors because their toilet was broken and made noise when it flushed.

■ Deputy Erik Clark, who has been employed for about four years, was suspended for 12 hours without pay after an investigation showed he failed to report an injury to a citizen he had handcuffed and lack of job knowledge/improper conduct.

On Feb. 4, Clark and two other deputies went to Laura Ballenger’s house in the 8400 block of Robin Road, San Carlos Park, to look for a man wanted on a felony warrant. Deputies had been to her house previously that week looking for the man. She had allowed them inside, but this time, she asked them to explain more about what was going on. She was grabbed from inside her house, handcuffed and put on the ground. Deputies went inside and searched her house after allegedly hearing a man’s voice. After about 15 minutes of being handcuffed, Clark took the cuffs off. The woman noticed pain and numbness in her wrist and hand and had a scrape on her head. The deputies left and she sought medical attention.