Clearwater Police Officer Arrested For Sexual Battery On A Tourist
Florida always seems to make national headlines. Usually, we would talk or write about police officers arresting a “Florida Man” for some crazy reason. However, today’s story is a bit different. In today’s edition of What The Florida, we talk about a police officer being labeled as the Florida Man.
A Clearwater police officer was arrested for an accident that occurred Sunday morning where a tourist alleged she was sexually battered. According to an arrest report, Officer Nicolas Paloma stopped a woman for jaywalking after 2:30 a.m. at the Clearwater Beach roundabout. After that, things got weird. Paloma allegedly told the victim that “she could take care of the charges by doing things to him”. He then offered her a ride back to her hotel. Authorities reported after that, Paloma shut off his tracker and started driving around Clearwater Beach for 30 minutes before dropping her off. At that time, he allegedly engaged in sex acts with the woman.
The incident almost went unnoticed too. If it wasn’t for the fact that the victim was involved in another incident that involved their friend at the hotel, Clearwater police may have never found out. After police were made aware of the situation, Chief Eric Gandy was immediately contacted and a criminal investigation was conducted that lasted till Monday. The detectives from the Crimes Against Children and Families unit ended up taking over the case and now Paloma faces two felony charges of false imprisonment and sexual battery.
When Chief Gandy was asked about the case, he replied “What this officer did is reprehensible,” He continued by saying “He’s someone who took an oath to enforce the law, not break the law in an egregious way while wearing a badge and a uniform.”
If you or anyone you know has information on any similar situations such as this, please contact the department at 727-562-4385.
Source: WFLA
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