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The deputy who was caught napping on patrol after the shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was fired.
Moises Carotti, an 18-year veteran of the Broward Sheriff's Office, was initially recommended for a 10-day suspension for the March 19 nap and other deficiencies. But the department decided that the highly public nature of its repetition justified dismissal.
"When he was assigned to provide security at a school after 17 people were killed at school, he denigrated the public opinion of all MPs by falling asleep shockingly and inexcusably in his patrol car. ", Says an internal report. .
But Carotti, 40, said he felt sidelined for political reasons.
"I understand that I made a mistake. It was an unfortunate mistake, "he said, explaining that he was taking over-the-counter medications to treat the symptoms of the flu that day. "I thought that all the good deeds I did would have counted for something."
A union representative stated that the sheriff's office had made a mistake in imposing such harsh penalties. The Carotti file will be submitted to an arbitration board.
The internal affairs report also notes that a lot of things were happening on the campus the day Carotti was dozing.
Zachary Cruz, the shooter's brother, arrived illegally on school grounds. He provoked discussions about the police radio system for a period of time that ended about 25 minutes before Carotti was found sleeping on March 19, the report said.
Cruz's incident ended around 4:50 pm, says the report. At 5:15 pm, the report indicates that an unidentified student caught the attention of the sheriff's sgt. Greg Lacerra, showed Carotti asleep in his patrol and shouted, "Is that how you do things here at BSO?
Lacerra "confirmed that the eyes of MP Carotti were closed and that his head was tilted down as if he were asleep," says the report.
A YouTube.com video was played on Carotti's laptop when it was found, but the report did not say what he had watched.
Lacerra knocked on the door and saw Carotti jump and wake up. He apologized for falling asleep, according to the report.
The report notes that Carotti, who earned $ 75,670 a year in his work, had been suspended three times since 2016 for performance issues. However, he was recently hailed for instigating intruders to doze in unoccupied rescue towers at Deerfield Beach.
Prior to being assigned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the Feb. 14 shootout, he was on a road patrol in the Sheriff's Deerfield Beach Division. As such, he has received praise for preventing a young sexual predator from groping young girls while they were carrying skateboards into the ocean and apprehending a stolen handbag at Starbucks.
Carotti told investigators that he had felt sicker than tired on March 19 and that he probably should have called him sick, but he was concerned about his appearance.
His shot was official last week.
Jeff Bell, president of the International Union of Police Associations, said he was confident that Carotti would regain his position after a call. Bell noted another situation where a correctional officer fell asleep four days in a row during training sessions, but only received a two-day suspension. .
"The punishment does not match the charges," Bell said. "The sheriff clearly used the specific location as a reason to improve the sentence."
Carotti told investigators that he had been in his car and that he was playing video on YouTube in order to calm himself after a stressful phone call. But then he calmed down so much, he fell asleep, the report says.
"Assistant Carotti acknowledged that nothing prevented him, when he was starting to feel sleepy, from getting out of his car and walking, as he had been told to do," he said. report.
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