Post by Critique on Jan 21, 2007 1:25:09 GMT -5
January 20, 2007
BRADENTON, Fla. -- A police officer who reached out of his patrol car to drag a homeless woman's shopping cart 12 miles has been ordered to undergo retraining and counseling.
Officer Nicholas Evans, who has been praised by homeless advocates and jeered by his peers, won't be suspended for 20 days as a lieutenant had recommended, Police Chief Michael Radzilowski said Friday.
After arresting Marie Brooks on an outstanding warrant early one morning last week, Evans pulled her shopping cart alongside his cruiser to the county jail so Brooks wouldn't lose her meager belongings. The trip took him an hour.
According to a police report release Friday, Evans, a three-year veteran of the department, bragged to colleagues that he had gotten the cart up to 40 mph.
Department investigators concluded that Evans, 26, showed poor conduct for an officer because he brought negative attention to himself and to the department.
Also, Evans was written up for failing to follow state laws -- towing a cart could be considered careless driving, the report said -- and failing to operate a vehicle safely.
"Had the cart gotten away from Officer Evans and been struck by another vehicle, he would have been held civilly liable as well as the Bradenton Police Department," the report stated. Evans "failed to use his patrol car in a safe, prudent and expeditious manner."
Pulling the cart was a "clearly careless and hazardous" decision that jeopardized the officer's safety, Brooks' welfare and the lives of other motorists.
His attitude in a meeting with supervisors that night was "humorous," police said, and Evans "did not appear to be taking it seriously."
Evans' wife disputed some of the report.
Liz Evans said her husband estimated he topped out at about 25 mph for "extremely short" periods of times. Her husband would not brag about pulling a shopping cart, she said.
www.local6.com/news/10802431/detail.html
BRADENTON, Fla. -- A police officer who reached out of his patrol car to drag a homeless woman's shopping cart 12 miles has been ordered to undergo retraining and counseling.
Officer Nicholas Evans, who has been praised by homeless advocates and jeered by his peers, won't be suspended for 20 days as a lieutenant had recommended, Police Chief Michael Radzilowski said Friday.
After arresting Marie Brooks on an outstanding warrant early one morning last week, Evans pulled her shopping cart alongside his cruiser to the county jail so Brooks wouldn't lose her meager belongings. The trip took him an hour.
According to a police report release Friday, Evans, a three-year veteran of the department, bragged to colleagues that he had gotten the cart up to 40 mph.
Department investigators concluded that Evans, 26, showed poor conduct for an officer because he brought negative attention to himself and to the department.
Also, Evans was written up for failing to follow state laws -- towing a cart could be considered careless driving, the report said -- and failing to operate a vehicle safely.
"Had the cart gotten away from Officer Evans and been struck by another vehicle, he would have been held civilly liable as well as the Bradenton Police Department," the report stated. Evans "failed to use his patrol car in a safe, prudent and expeditious manner."
Pulling the cart was a "clearly careless and hazardous" decision that jeopardized the officer's safety, Brooks' welfare and the lives of other motorists.
His attitude in a meeting with supervisors that night was "humorous," police said, and Evans "did not appear to be taking it seriously."
Evans' wife disputed some of the report.
Liz Evans said her husband estimated he topped out at about 25 mph for "extremely short" periods of times. Her husband would not brag about pulling a shopping cart, she said.
www.local6.com/news/10802431/detail.html