PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – 8 On Your Side is digging deeper into a lawsuit involving a former school resource officer.
Another former Osceola Middle school student is coming forward with new complaints against Ural Darling. Darling is mentioned in a lawsuit against Pinellas County Schools and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Derek and Megan Dowdy are suing them for negligence.
They claim their autistic son was berated by Darling in 2017 after throwing a book at a teacher. The Dowdy’s said the school’s specialist did nothing to stop Darling’s behavior while in her office.
Robert Ingold remembers former SRO Darling from his days at Osceola Middle School back in 2000.
“I remember him not as a mentor but more of a bully. He got excited to see it, tried to get kids to fight. He was more of an intimidator than a leader.” said Ingold.
Ingold said Darling once threatened him with pepper spray.
“I wasn’t a perfect angel, but I don’t feel it deserved the threatening of pepper spray. You know I wasn’t presenting any weapons or threats to him or any other student,” he said.
When Ingold heard about the Dowdy’s lawsuit, he couldn’t believe Darling was still at the school.
“No way, no way he’s was still there. But I just felt bad for the kid. He shouldn’t have to endure that. He’s got a life full of problems already,” said Ingold.
The sheriff’s office and the district declined to comment on pending litigation.