OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. (WESH) – Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez revealed details on the termination of a deputy.
“When something like this comes across your desk it makes your stomach turn,” Lopez said.
Lopez announced a deputy at the sheriff’s office was arrested and terminated for misconduct.
Deputies say they were called to a house for a domestic violence situation on Oct. 2.
Authorities say the husband involved in the incident threw a brick at his wife that shattered a window. The sheriff says the husband left the scene and was contacted by his cousin, Osceola deputy Kevin Encarnacion.
Lopez said Encarnacion gave the man information on how to evade an arrest.
“That is really bad because we have a victim of domestic violence who’s calling for our help,” Lopez said. “Now we have a guy who is in my uniform, using my equipment, trying to help his family member get away with a crime.”
The sheriff said Encarnacion used the equipment in an unlawful manner.
“Our deputy — our former deputy, was putting our officers in danger because everyone knows that domestic violence is the number one (incidents officers) get killed,” Lopez said.
Authorities say Encarnacion warned the man not to pick up the phone if he was called because it was ‘probably the cops trying to find him and arrest him.’
The sheriff added that Encarnacion even tried to discredit the victim.
“(He) actually told them that the victim had mental health issues trying to discredit her,” Lopez said.
Encarnacion is facing charges of accessory after the fact and official misconduct, both third-degree felonies.
