Officer Scott K. Anderson (Picture)

[WaTcHeR]

Officer Scott K. Anderson

07.25.2006 - State prosecutors have dropped a drunken driving charge against a former Collier County sheriff's lieutenant arrested in a crash just days after he was convicted of an earlier DUI.

Officer Scott K. Anderson, 41, remains charged with driving with a suspended license. His license had been suspended two days before his arrest when he was convicted of rear-ending a vehicle. That crash occurred while Anderson was on duty and in a Sheriff's Office patrol truck.

Donald Day, Anderson's attorney, said Monday that lab reports on Anderson's blood tests came back clean of drugs.

"He has some issues, but they don't include substance abuse on that," Day said.

After reviewing the evidence in the case, prosecutors filed the notice of no information, which is an official document charging a person with a crime, July 13. Day said he is just now receiving copies of the notice and lab reports.

Anderson had pleaded innocent to both counts. He could still face up to 60 days in county jail if he's convicted of the driving with a suspended license charge.

Anderson was accused of causing a T-bone crash involving off-duty Deputy Patricia Williams in her personal vehicle. The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. June 9 at Wilson Boulevard North and Golden Gate Boulevard East.

Anderson

Williams suffered minor injuries.

Prosecutor Rich Montecalvo, who supervises the county court division at the State Attorney's Office, said a drug recognition expert called to the scene of the crash had been unable to determine if he thought Anderson was under the influence. So the deputy was arrested and had a blood sample taken.

"The test kind of confirmed his findings that there were no controlled substances in his system," Montecalvo said.

However, because of the arrest, Anderson also faces a probation violation charge. After his June 7 DUI conviction, Judge Vince Murphy placed him on a year probation. A new arrest is considered a violation of the terms of probation. If he's found guilty of that, he could face up to a year in jail, minus the time he has already served.

Day said Anderson has been under a doctor's care to deal with mental health problems that were a result of traumatic experiences during the deputy's 21 years on the force. He was fired in March by the Sheriff's Office after his third arrest in less than two months.

Day said Anderson insisted to him the blood tests would come back clean because his probation officer and doctor's office had drug tested him almost daily.

In the earlier DUI case, Anderson was under the influence of a prescription drug, hydrocodone, when he rear-ended a car driven by a 42-year-old woman at 11 a.m. Feb. 15 at Davis and Lakewood boulevards. He was driving his Agricultural Unit patrol truck and was wearing his deputy's uniform.

Anderson still faces three felony charges related to that case. Prosecutors say he illegally obtained prescription drugs from multiple physicians, going to several different doctors for treatment and getting prescriptions from each of them. Investigators discovered that after troopers found numerous prescription pills scattered throughout his patrol truck after the crash.

He could face five years in prison on each of those charges.

www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/jul/25/dui_dropped_against_former_deputy/?local_news

[WaTcHeR]

08.31.2006 - Despite reaching plea bargains in all his criminal cases and agreeing to probation after spending about two months in jail, former Collier County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Anderson is still hoping to get his first criminal conviction, for DUI, reversed.

Officer Anderson, 41, was convicted in June of driving under the influence of a prescription drug and crashing into another car while he was on duty. According to trial testimony, he had hydrocodone, a painkiller, in his system when he rear-ended a car driven by a 42-year-old woman at 11 a.m. Feb. 15 at Davis and Lakewood boulevards. He was in an Agricultural Unit patrol truck and wearing his deputy’s uniform.

Anderson’s attorney, Donald Day, has filed a motion asking for the judge, Vince Murphy, to overturn the conviction and grant a new trial. Day argued numerous medical records were provided to the defense late, and some didn’t pertain to the case and contradicted testimony the court relied on to find Anderson guilty.

Day was unavailable for comment Wednesday. His motion for a new trial is scheduled for a hearing Sept. 15 before Collier County Judge Vince Murphy, who convicted Anderson of DUI.

After his arrest in that case, Anderson was charged with fraudulently obtaining prescription drugs. According to the arrest report, Anderson went to multiple doctors and complained of the same symptoms so he could obtain more than one prescription for pain medicine.

On Aug. 23, he pleaded no contest to all four felony charges in that case. Collier County Circuit Judge Frederick Hardt withheld a formal finding of guilt and sentenced Anderson to three years probation. He could have faced up to five years in prison on each.

Under the terms of the plea, Anderson can ask the court to end his probation halfway through if he completes all the terms, including psychiatric and substance abuse counseling. He must also pay $740 in court-related costs in that case.

He also was charged in two other criminal cases.

In one, he was charged with fleeing and eluding law enforcement, a felony and reckless driving, a misdemeanor. On March 29, he was arrested after refusing to stop when a deputy tried to pull him over for weaving and speeding on Golden Gate Boulevard. He led deputies on a chase of up to 95 mph, according to the arrest report.

Prosecutor Lisa Mead agreed to drop the fleeing and eluding charge. Anderson pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to time served.

Mead said she didn’t treat Anderson’s cases much differently than she would have anyone else’s. State sentencing guidelines didn’t call for jail or prison time, and he had no prior criminal history.

“He shouldn’t be a law enforcement officer anymore but I don’t think he deserves prison, unless he’s back again,” Mead said. “He’s lost a lot, like any drug addict does.”

The Sheriff’s Office fired him after a third arrest. He had been on administrative leave since his first arrest but was arrested again June 9 in another DUI crash two days after he was convicted of DUI.

“He’s made that sacrifice, now it’s in his hands whether he’s going to get help or not. I hope he does, and if he doesn’t, he’ll be back,” Mead said.

In the third case, he was accused of crashing into an off-duty deputy driving a personal vehicle around 2:30 p.m. at Wilson Boulevard North and Golden Gate Boulevard East.

Prosecutors later dropped the DUI charge after blood tests came back negative for drugs and alcohol. He pleaded no contest to driving with a suspended license and received a $500 fine and time served. He must also pay $250 in court-related costs.

After that arrest, Mead went to court and persuaded the judge to revoke Anderson’s bond.

“It was not just for the community’s safety but his, too. He was going to hurt somebody,” Mead said.

The new arrest also meant prosecutors filed a probation violation charge against him. He was formally convicted of that and sentenced to time served.

Day has said Anderson suffers from mental illness caused by job-related trauma. Anderson, who spent more than a decade as East Naples substation commander during the more than 20 years he was in uniform, was one of the first responding deputies to the Cracker Barrel triple-murder in 1995. Three former co-workers of the murderer, Brandy Jennings, had been knifed to death inside the restaurant’s walk-in cooler.

The crime scene was disturbing, Day said. He has emotional and psychological problems that led to a drug addiction, Day said.

And a minor back injury suffered early in the his career became worse because he wore a deputy’s utility belt for years. The belt is heavy and caused him problems with his spine. He took prescription pills for the pain, which led to addiction, Day said.

www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/aug/31/exdeputy_wants_first_conviction_overturned/?local_news