LEE COUNTY, Fla. - Deputy Trevor Lehman's family seems centered in law enforcement and his career, in particular, has become the center of controversy.
In 2013, Lehman landed in the spotlight because of a dash cam video which led to his termination for excessive force. During his seven years as a Fort Myers police officer, Lehman has been fired, rehired, resigned and was later hired as a Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy.
Lehman's 2013 accusation of excessive force stems from video showing him strike a man in the head during an arrest for a traffic violation. Afterwards, former Fort Myers police Chief, Doug Baker, fired Lehman but, ten months afterwards, an arbitrator cleared him of that charge. Lehman was then rehired and, in 2015, was investigated again for his alleged involvement in a barroom brawl at the Dixie Roadhouse in Cape Coral.
Before Fort Myers police could finish that investigation, Lehman handed in his resignation to Lieutenant Prince, claiming ‘emotionally my well-being has suffered since the incident. That was last July; now, less than a year later, Lehman's got his badge back, this time with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Some fellow officers wonder if Lehman’s family members had anything to do with it.
Four in your Corner found Lehman's mother, Deborah Lehman Pritchard, has worked there since 1999. A few years before that, his step mother, Shannon Lehman, was hired and is now working as a Senior Planner in administration making nearly $81,000 a year. We obtained Lehman's personnel records showing he admitted to doing steroids, Xanax and smoking marijuana 15 to 20 times; all within two years of being hired as a Fort Myers police officer back in 2008. That has some questioning if law enforcement is hiring the best and the brightest. We called Lehman and also requested a comment from the Lee County Sheriff's Office but haven’t heard back.
