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Officer Who Declined To Arrest Woman Faces State Disciplinary Hearing

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2008

TAMPA - A former Tampa police officer who failed to arrest a woman wanted by authorities must face a state commission to determine whether he will lose his law-enforcement certification, records show.

Today, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has a probable-cause hearing scheduled about Antonio Rosario, an 18-year veteran who left the police department in November.

This is the first step in a process to determine whether Rosario will lose his law-enforcement certification, said Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha. The panel could decide to take no action, agree with the police department's discipline or proceed further.

FDLE records show 24 officers associated with the Tampa Police Department have undergone a disciplinary hearing with the commission since June 2003, Perezluha said. The commission holds about eight probable-cause hearings per year, among other actions, she said.

An investigation within the police department found Rosario violated police department policies regarding attentiveness to duty, standard of conduct, truthfulness and handling warrants after he declined to arrest Brittney Josten, 19, on May 26, 2007.

Rosario, then 51, met Josten that day during an off-duty job at the International Flea Market on Nebraska Avenue, according to a report from the investigation.

After she exposed herself, Rosario took Josten to her mother in handcuffs as a "joke" but released her, the report states.

At the time, Josten had two misdemeanor warrants for her arrest on charges that she failed to register a motor vehicle and attached an unassigned license tag, the report states.

Rosario also gave Josten, a prostitute, his phone number to arrange to meet at a motel, the report states.

Rosario denied this during the investigation, but phone records showed otherwise, the report states.
Josten was arrested on the warrants by another officer during a traffic stop on June 2, 2007, police said.

Investigators found no other misconduct among cases in which Rosario had been involved, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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