CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — Four Charlotte County deputies have been fired after an internal affairs investigation found they failed to properly activate their body cameras, mislabeled footage, and collectively decided not to report use of force during an arrest at a homeless camp in February.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on four deputies being fired from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office:
The 22-page internal affairs report details how five deputies, Russell Epeards, Sean O'Keefe, Jacob Earner, Timothy Degrasse, and Daniel Wilson - were assisting the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office in searching for a wanted person at a homeless camp in Englewood.
Body camera footage shows only part of the incident, where deputies arrest a wanted man who ran away from them. The recordings beginning approximately an hour after deputies arrived at the scene, according to the report. The cameras were only triggered to record once tasers were drawn during the arrest.
According to the report, the deputies violated body camera policy by not activating their cameras during the initial interaction. Additionally, three of the five deputies involved incorrectly labeled what footage was recorded as a "false activation," and none of the deputies filed use of force reports following the arrest.
The violations were discovered by an employee in the records department.
Sheriff Bill Prummell announced Monday that four deputies were terminated as a result of the investigation in the following statement:
According to disciplinary records, Deputy Jacob Earner was not fired but received a reprimand, is serving a six-month probation period and has been removed from the Special Tactical Response unit.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
