Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 25, 2006 12:38:05 GMT -5
Officer Reginald Smith
04/25/2006 - ALACHUA — An Alachua police officer bit his girlfriend's mouth, threw a vacuum cleaner at her, punched her and then pushed her 8-year-old daughter into a wall before being arrested by Gainesville police early Sunday, according to jail reports.
Apparently, the argument started over what was going into Easter baskets, police said.
Reginald Smith, a 30-year-old Alachua police sergeant, has been charged with aggravated battery, simple battery, tampering with a victim/witness, and resisting/obstructing/opposing an officer without violence.
Smith also is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer after being handcuffed and allegedly spinning around and striking with his elbow a Gainesville police officer in the chest.
This is Smith's third domestic disturbance on record, including an early 2000 case in which High Springs police told Alachua police they would have arrested Smith if he wasn't an Alachua police officer, according to documents in Smith's city personnel file.
Smith is now on suspension with pay as the city seeks an outside law enforcement agency to conduct an internal investigation while the criminal investigation is conducted by the Gainesville Police Department, said Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson Jr.
Sunday's incident began at roughly 1 a.m. early Sunday in Gainesville when Smith was with his girlfriend. The High Springs Herald is withholding her name to protect the identity of her child.
According to reports, an argument led to Smith biting his girlfriend on the right side of her mouth, "leaving lacerations in the form of a human bite which were freely bleeding" upon arrival by police.
The argument moved from the bedroom to the living room, where Smith allegedly threw a vacuum cleaner at his girlfriend while she sat on the couch. She was hit in the lower right leg.
When she tried to call 911, Smith grabbed the phone and threw it into the kitchen, according to reports. As she tried to escape to a back room, Smith then punched her on the left side of her face, "causing swelling and bruising on her left cheekbone."
At this time, the woman's 8-year-old daughter attempted to push Smith away from her mother. Smith pushed her away, "causing her to strike a wall (and) causing her lower lip to bleed," police reports stated.
Smith then left the home. When police arrived, they saw Smith outside and ordered him to stop. He yelled an obscenity at an officer and continued to try to walk into the house, according to reports.
That's when he was arrested and handcuffed.
Afterwards, when emergency medical personnel arrived, both the girlfriend and her daughter refused treatment, reports stated.
Alachua Police Chief Robert Jernigan showed up later that night to collect Smith's police department items.
Smith Twice Before In Domestic Altercations
Smith has had his run-ins with the law, according to documents in his city personnel file.
When he was hired as an Alachua police officer in February of 1998, he was fired four months later when he was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and with resisting arrest without violence.
There were no details of the incident but a follow-up report said the charges were dropped because the case "lacks prosecutive merit."
In October of 2002, Alachua Police Chief Robert Jernigan wrote that there were two domestic disturbance cases involving Smith when he was off-duty. Jernigan wrote that in one incident that occurred in High Springs, the police there said Smith would have been arrested if he wasn't a police officer.
Apparently, Smith was demoted from his rank as detective but in November of 2002, City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. reappointed Smith to his rank. Watson questioned why Jernigan didn't investigate the previous two alleged incidents and said that if Jernigan hadn't felt it was a concern, then Smith should not have lost his rank as detective.
In June of 2003, Smith was fired after he allegedly made "inappropriate statements." That firing led to a months-long battle with the police union.
In November of 2003, Smith was rehired by Watson.
"I have been working closely with the (union) in your case and have decided that my final determination is to override the conclusions of the internal investigation of you," Watson wrote to Smith. "From this point forward, those results are not valid. I am, however, putting a letter of reprimand in your personnel file for insubordination referencing the inappropriate statement by you."
Smith's Career With Alachua Police
While Smith was fired twice, then rehired each time by the city since he was first hired in 1998, Smith had a number of positive comments in his personnel file from reviews over the years.
In 2001, Sgt. M. Johns, wrote, "I have observed Officer Smith involved in several high stress situations. He is always professional while handling these situations and always remains in control of himself and the person(s) involved."
In August of 2001, the Gainesville Police Department in a written letter praised Smith for his help in solving a bank robbery. Later that same year, Smith was named a detective.
By January of 2002, Smith was handling more than 90 percent of the department's criminal investigations, according to his personnel file.
In July of 2005, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, and his latest review, made on January 27, 2006, he received what the city records stated was an "average" evaluation.