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St. Pete Officer Fired For Contact With Married Woman

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Petersburg police officer was fired today amid allegations he kept in contact with a married woman he was told to stay away from, according to internal affairs documents.

Among other things, Officer Steven Sprout was less than truthful about the circumstances surrounding the alleged contact, the documents say.

Sprout met the woman, Jennifer Arcaro, in 2003, when Arcaro was dating Ron Arcaro before the Arcaros married later in the year, investigative documents say. Sprout was then investigating an incident in which Ron Arcaro was suspected of slashing the tires of Jennifer and another man she was seeing before the Arcaros married, the documents say.

The Arcaros had an on-again, off-again relationship, but remained married, and Ron Arcaro filed a complaint against Sprout with the department, the documents say. As a result, Sprout was issued an administrative order Dec. 21, 2005, prohibiting him from having any contact with either Arcaro. The order was rescinded Jan. 21, 2007, and the Arcaros' divorce was finalized Jan. 14, 2008.

Authorities, however, received information that while the Arcaros were still technically married, Sprout had violated the order. Jennifer Arcaro said the two communicated by cell phone during the time the order was in effect; she also said they also communicated on a dating Web site, the documents say.

She said, though, that a physical relationship didn't commence until after the order was rescinded, the documents say.

A neighbor of Jennifer Arcaro, however, complained that Sprout visited Jennifer Arcaro while the administrative order was still in effect. Two other neighbors later interviewed said the same thing.

Sprout denied having any contact with either Arcaro while the order was in effect, other than to tell Jennifer he couldn't talk to her, internal affairs documents show.

This year, Ron Arcaro filed another complaint against Sprout, saying Sprout's conduct in the presence of his then-wife was inappropriate. Among other things, Ron Arcaro was upset with Sprout because, at some point during Sprout's relationship with his then-wife, Sprout moved the couple's child's fingers in a photograph in such a way as to suggest the child was making an inappropriate gesture.

It was also found that Sprout used his take-home squad car to visit Jennifer, which is a violation of the take-home squad car policy, the documents say.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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