Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 24, 2006 10:30:29 GMT -5
01/24/2006 - CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- A Charlotte County Sheriff's Office deputy was fired for falling asleep while on an off-duty overtime security detail and then reportedly lying about it under oath.
Charges of perjury and neglect of duty were sustained in a recent internal investigation against Deputy 1st Class Terri Hessler, who had worked for the department for 18 years.
"I wasn't sleeping," Hessler said Monday. "I was reading a book."
Hessler, 39, stood by her story that she was not sleeping when another deputy reported he found Hessler sleeping in her patrol car on Sept. 25 at the Stump Pass Marina in Englewood when he arrived for an alarm call.
The deputy said he pulled up to the marina and noticed a Sheriff's Office vehicle in the parking lot. He reported Hessler was asleep in the front seat. He said when he approached the vehicle, Hessler seemed to snap awake, the report showed.
The deputy told his supervisor about the incident.
During an interview with investigators on Nov. 3, Hessler said she was working the detail from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. She said she saw the other deputy get out of his car and assumed he was there visiting someone. She said her car radio was off and her hand-held radio turned down because it was interfering with karaoke music inside the marina. She said she had turned down her hard-mounted radio in the car because it was giving her problems when the vehicle was not running.
An inspection of the radio did not support her allegation, according to the report.
Hessler, a school resource officer at The Academy in Murdock, has been accused of falling asleep on the job in the past. On May 30, a resident in the Federal Emergency Management Agency park in Punta Gorda complained that Hessler was asleep in her vehicle when a disturbance happened right in front of her. Hessler denied sleeping but said she had a medical condition affecting her eyes, a report stated.
On March 9, Hessler was counseled about falling asleep on duty and being tardy.
The report listed several other alleged incidents of Hessler sleeping on the job.
In an interview Monday, Hessler said the department's treatment of her is unfair and stems from an incident in 1996 when she was shot during a domestic abuse call. She was out of work for a year after the incident.
"Since then, whenever I tried to come back they didn't want to put me into a certified position," Hessler said. "I've had problems with (the department) ever since I was hurt."
In 2003, she was injured again in a bar fight and was out of work for a year.
"I enjoyed working with CCSO," said Hessler. "I loved my job and can't imagine doing anything else. I never expected it to come to this, but I did not lie and I did not fall asleep."
Paul Murphy, staff representative for the Fraternal Order of Police, said he filed a grievance to appeal Hessler's termination.
"Nowhere, in any supporting documents, is there any credible evidence that Hessler (committed) perjury in official proceedings or that Hessler was sleeping on duty," Murphy wrote in a brief to the Sheriff John Davenport, "for none exists."
Charges of perjury and neglect of duty were sustained in a recent internal investigation against Deputy 1st Class Terri Hessler, who had worked for the department for 18 years.
"I wasn't sleeping," Hessler said Monday. "I was reading a book."
Hessler, 39, stood by her story that she was not sleeping when another deputy reported he found Hessler sleeping in her patrol car on Sept. 25 at the Stump Pass Marina in Englewood when he arrived for an alarm call.
The deputy said he pulled up to the marina and noticed a Sheriff's Office vehicle in the parking lot. He reported Hessler was asleep in the front seat. He said when he approached the vehicle, Hessler seemed to snap awake, the report showed.
The deputy told his supervisor about the incident.
During an interview with investigators on Nov. 3, Hessler said she was working the detail from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. She said she saw the other deputy get out of his car and assumed he was there visiting someone. She said her car radio was off and her hand-held radio turned down because it was interfering with karaoke music inside the marina. She said she had turned down her hard-mounted radio in the car because it was giving her problems when the vehicle was not running.
An inspection of the radio did not support her allegation, according to the report.
Hessler, a school resource officer at The Academy in Murdock, has been accused of falling asleep on the job in the past. On May 30, a resident in the Federal Emergency Management Agency park in Punta Gorda complained that Hessler was asleep in her vehicle when a disturbance happened right in front of her. Hessler denied sleeping but said she had a medical condition affecting her eyes, a report stated.
On March 9, Hessler was counseled about falling asleep on duty and being tardy.
The report listed several other alleged incidents of Hessler sleeping on the job.
In an interview Monday, Hessler said the department's treatment of her is unfair and stems from an incident in 1996 when she was shot during a domestic abuse call. She was out of work for a year after the incident.
"Since then, whenever I tried to come back they didn't want to put me into a certified position," Hessler said. "I've had problems with (the department) ever since I was hurt."
In 2003, she was injured again in a bar fight and was out of work for a year.
"I enjoyed working with CCSO," said Hessler. "I loved my job and can't imagine doing anything else. I never expected it to come to this, but I did not lie and I did not fall asleep."
Paul Murphy, staff representative for the Fraternal Order of Police, said he filed a grievance to appeal Hessler's termination.
"Nowhere, in any supporting documents, is there any credible evidence that Hessler (committed) perjury in official proceedings or that Hessler was sleeping on duty," Murphy wrote in a brief to the Sheriff John Davenport, "for none exists."