TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Quarreling Deputies Suspended For Lying About Fight

ADVERTISEMENT

By ANTHONY CORMIER

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: July 3, 2008

SARASOTA — A deputy and his wife were suspended after they fought in public and lied about it during an internal inquiry, according to documents released by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

An eyewitness told deputies that he saw Sgt. Robert Kiefer pull his wife, Sgt. Deborah Bowman-Kiefer, from a car and throw her to the ground. The couple told investigators that they quarreled, but the argument never turned physical.

Sheriff's officials say polygraph tests showed the couple were evasive when questioned about the extent of the fight. Bowman-Kiefer was not injured and had signed a waiver saying she did not want to press charges on the day of the quarrel.

Despite the eyewitness account, which can be strong evidence in domestic violence cases, no one was charged with a crime and the sheriff's office did not turn evidence over to prosecutors for review.

Instead, the two were suspended for 40 hours. Kiefer, who works in the sheriff's warrants division, and Bowman-Kiefer, who works in the sheriff's accreditation department, were penalized for dishonesty and conduct unbecoming an officer in the May incident.

The eyewitness, an auto broker, was cruising through a lot on South Tamiami Trail that Saturday afternoon, looking for used cars. A black Cadillac screamed into the parking lot.

The broker, Floyd Ryder, said a man got out, went to the passenger's side of the vehicle, yanked a woman out and slammed her to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Ryder asked.

The man, who turned out to be Kiefer, told him: "She's going nuts."

Kiefer put the woman back into the front seat.

The woman, Bowman-Kiefer, looked at Ryder and said: "I'm not nuts." She also asked for help, Ryder later told investigators, before the Cadillac sped backward onto U.S. 41 and took off.

"He obviously had bad intentions," Ryder told police.

Ryder, according to 911 tapes and interviews with police, followed the car for several miles, until a deputy pulled behind the Cadillac near Clark Road.

Within a few minutes, other high-ranking sheriff's officials were at the scene.

In a report, Deputy Robert Jovanovski said that Bowman-Kiefer was upset but uninjured. Jovanovski reported that he did not think there was enough evidence to file a domestic violence charge.

"Nobody tried to cover this up," said sheriff's office spokesman Lt. Chuck Lesaltato. "We did not have enough evidence to make an arrest. Unfortunately, this happens every day in law enforcement, especially in domestic cases where people are uncooperative and it is difficult to find out what happened."

Some states require an arrest if there is some evidence, such as visible injuries or an eyewitness. But in Florida, police have some discretion to determine whether someone goes to jail. Experts say officers are "strongly encouraged" to figure out who was the aggressor in any domestic dispute.

And sometimes victims refuse to cooperate or ask law enforcement to waive criminal charges even when a crime clearly occurred.

During an internal review, the couple told investigators that they had lunch at a restaurant, then quarreled in the car.

Bowman-Kiefer said she threw her shoe at Kiefer in the car but missed. A few minutes later, Kiefer pulled the Cadillac into a parking lot. He initially told investigators he was trying to console his wife and only helped her get out of the car.

She told investigators the same thing. After they failed a polygraph, Kiefer and Bowman-Kiefer offered more details about the incident, but were both adamant that there was no physical abuse.

The witness, Ryder, said he thought the suspension was fair and that internal investigators conducted a thorough review.

"I think they handled it appropriately," he said Tuesday.

The couple did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT