LAKELAND — A sworn officer is lying, Lakeland Police Department leaders have concluded. But an internal investigation into a domestic incident involving two officers couldn't determine which one.
As a result, no disciplinary action can be taken against either officer despite the gravity of the accusations initially raised, or those that followed during the nearly 2½-month investigation.
Investigators had attempted to dissect an Oct. 25 incident in which Detective Brooke Osterhage accused Lt. Brent Addison, her one-time fiancé, of pulling a gun during an argument, holding it to his head and then, while standing over her, placing his forehead to hers while shouting "Is this what you want?"
This never happened, Addison told investigators, and instead was the fruition of Osterhage's plan to sink his career and his reputation. Multiple officers, a civilian employee and Addison's real estate agent said Addison had confided in them prior to the incident that Osterhage had threatened to make up allegations to hurt him if he broke off the relationship.
"At the end of this investigation, all we are left with is Lt. Addison's and Detective Osterhage's differing explanations; both cannot be true," Capt. Sammy Taylor wrote, concluding the internal-affairs investigation.
Taylor added: "It is impossible to discern which account is true and which is not, therefore, I recommend a NOT SUSTAINED finding for each allegation." The designation indicates the accusations could not be confirmed nor denied on the basis of fact, leaving no room for department leaders to issue disciplinary actions.
The internal investigation spawned at least two criminal investigations as Osterhage said Addison had battered her earlier in the year and provided photos of injuries she said she received.
The first investigation, performed by LPD detectives, was dropped by the State Attorney's Office for a lack of prosecutable evidence.
A second criminal investigation, performed by the Polk County Sheriff's Office, is ongoing.
Meanwhile, Osterhage is seeking an injunction for protection against Addison through the courts. A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today before Circuit Judge Reinaldo Ojeda.
The two have been ordered to stay apart. The department could prescribe other non-disciplinary correctives, like counseling, but it will have to wait until the Sheriff's Office investigation and court cases are concluded, Police Chief Larry Giddens said.
In the petition for protection, Osterhage wrote that the "no contact order" is not enough.
"I have described previous acts of violence to investigators and internal affairs," Osterhage wrote. "I am in fear for my safety as I do not feel the department is going to help me, due to he is a valued member of the department.
"I fear that, should one or both of us lose our jobs as a result of this most recent incident, the 'no contact' order will no longer apply, and I need to protect myself," Osterhage wrote.
But the department performed its due diligence, Giddens said, and he sees no reason to question the outcome of the internal investigation or how the responding officers, two captains and an assistant chief of police handled the incident that evening.
In the days after the incident, Osterhage had written in a memo that her complaint was not being investigated with the care a similar case not involving officers would have been. Sgt. Patricio Guity, who had been Osterhage's first call after the argument, also expressed dissatisfaction with how it was handled.
"If anything, I think we did more," Giddens told The Ledger. "I believe that the actions that were taken by our staff members on this, based on the information they were given, were proven to be correct."
Citing the possible injunction and Sheriff's Office investigation, Lakeland police spokesman Sgt. Gary Gross declined a request by a reporter to speak with any of the employees involved in the case, including Addison and Osterhage.
'Diametrically opposed' accounts
On this they agreed: Osterhage and Addison's rocky, four-year relationship ended in an argument Oct. 25 about 6 p.m. After the argument, Osterhage made a call to Guity, her supervisor, and Addison left. Addison soon returned, grabbed some belongings and his dog, the argument continued, and he left again.
Soon after, Capt. Hans Lehman met with Osterhage at the apartment, where he learned that Addison may be a danger to himself. Capt. Steve Walker and Assistant Chief of Police Ruben Garcia met Addison at the LPD headquarters to determine whether he should be involuntarily committed under the Baker Act.
Walker and Garcia, his close personal friend, said Addison did not meet the Baker Act criteria and that he seemed like his normal self.
What happened during the argument, or in the months leading up to the argument, is known only to Addison, a lieutenant in the Uniform Patrol Division with 23 years of experience, and Osterhage, a property-crimes detective with six years in the department.
Both provided text messages to investigators documenting alleged threats, accusations of abuse and happy exchanges intended to discredit the prior accusations. Addison also accused Osterhage of taking out her frustrations on him by leaving his dog outside. She accused him of infidelity. He said she had abandoned him at Gasparilla with a back injury, leaving him to find a way home. Neither officer provided investigators full access to their phones or text messages.
"Game on," Osterhage wrote in one text message about two weeks before the Oct. 25 incident during an argument by text. "Lawyer up fast."
"All you want is something amicable to cover your ass so you don't have to f------ face the music," she wrote of his desire to break up.
Addison had shared screenshots of these text messages with Evelyn Berrazueta, a civilian LPD employee, to whom he had mentioned his fears of retaliation.
Osterhage told investigators that the comments were "not a meaningless threat. That is me telling him I'm done with his game," and that she was ready to come forward with her allegations of abuse and was planning to meet with a union representative to figure out her options.
In a May 14, 2017, exchange submitted by Osterhage, she accused Addison of abusing her.
"Chest bump, push, neck grab…. real man you are. A disgrace to the badge," she told him as he was working off duty at Rumors Nightclub. "Should have known a boy like you can't handle a women who tells you when you are wrong. New flash – you aren't perfect and never will be. Have a great night with the hood rats, I bet one of those Low life's will let you rough them without question."
"It's really busy here so maybe you will give your wish tonight," Addison responded.
Known discord
Addison told several officers, including Garcia, that he believed Osterhage was going to tarnish his reputation with manufactured abuse.
Other witnesses testified that Addison had shared his fears with them, including Lt. Ron Bowling and Sgt. Dale Deas. None had taken action to defuse the powder keg or had reported it up the chain of command for intervention.
Addison also told his real estate agent in March he was selling his house and moving into a one-bedroom apartment to avoid evicting Osterhage, which he said he feared would trigger retaliation.
Despite this, Addison and Osterhage were soon again living together after the house sold in July.
"When asked how Det. Osterhage ended up living back with him at [redacted apartment complex name] he responded by saying it just happened," investigators wrote in a summary of their interview with him.
They were both "being nice" to each other at this point, and she started setting things up in his apartment. Eventually she started bringing her belongings to the apartment. "(Addison) advised he tried to give her some leeway and the next thing you know, she's just back in there and it returned to being back and forth."
A full clip, a loaded chamber
In his report of the incident, Walker, the captain who met with Addison that evening, said he later returned with him to the apartment so Addison could pick up some of his things.
While there, Walker said he observed the Springfield semi-automatic pistol Osterhage had accused Addison of putting to his head and then took after leaving the first time. It was sitting on top of the gun safe where Osterhage said Addison had grabbed it from that night.
Walker noted that the weapon had a full magazine and a round in the chamber — a fully loaded and cocked condition — which is how police officers are trained to keep their service weapons that may be quickly relied upon for self-defense.
In her account of the event, Osterhage said Addison had grabbed the weapon and racked the slide, which would have drawn a round from the magazine and loaded it into the chamber of the weapon. If a round had been in the chamber at the time, it would have been forcefully ejected, unspent.
Walker said he observed no pistol rounds lying about the room, and no sign of any kind of physical struggle.
A prior relationship, ended badly
Giddens, the police chief, and Garcia, the assistant chief and Addison's friend, had spoken to him in the past about comments made at the end of a relationship, this one with a Bartow Police Department officer.
BPD Officer Heather Manrow, who had dated Addison starting in 2010, according to her account, contacted LPD's internal affairs investigators after hearing of the Oct. 25 incident between him and Osterhage.
She provided copies of text messages sent during what appears to be a 2015 breakup that Addison took poorly, and one message in which he sent her a photo of a box from Tiffany's. Amid many unrequited messages, Addison texted, "F---- come over and put a bullet in my head."
He continued to call and send text messages.
Manrow took the messages to the officer in charge, saying she was concerned for Addison's well-being. This kicked off a meeting between Bartow Police Chief Joe Hall and Lakeland Chief Larry Giddens.
Giddens and Garcia met with Addison. In interviews with investigators, they said they took the messages as a figure of speech and not a statement of intent. Still, they said, they advised Addison to move on and maybe change his dating pool.
Giddens and Garcia said they had not recalled the incident until days after the Oct. 25 incident, and if they had, it would not have changed how the case was handled.
Despite a relationship with a fair number of fights, and bookended by what she described as infidelity, Manrow said Addison had never laid hands on her.
During the investigation, Osterhage had told internal-affairs investigators about Addison's previous relationship with another LPD officer, and claimed he had been aggressive after their breakup. That officer declined to be interviewed as part of the internal investigation.
No domestic violence investigation
In her petition for injunction, Osterhage wrote that no investigation was conducted "in accordance with Florida state statute."
A similar case had been made by Guity, her sergeant, citing state law that requires an officer write a report on any "alleged incident of domestic violence," and explanations if no one is arrested or if two or more people are arrested.
Giddens repeatedly defended the internal investigation's results during an interview with The Ledger, saying that Osterhage's initial story never included any details about any domestic abuse she may have suffered.
"She never alleged domestic violence," Giddens said.
"She was concerned for Brent's safety," Giddens said.
Giddens said two captains involved in the case, Lehman and Walker, weren't investigating the case as a domestic violence incident, but rather were concerned for Addison's well-being after learning about the gun.
"Hans and Walker are seasoned officers," Giddens said. "If she said she was battered, that this was domestic violence, that would have changed the complexion."
Asked if this was handled differently than similar cases involving Lakeland residents, Giddens said no.
But he added that Osterhage was well aware of domestic-violence issues, pointing out that she was well-trained in those types of cases, and had said this did not rise to that level.
"We're talking about trained police officers," Giddens said. "She was in patrol where she worked a number of domestic violence cases."
While Giddens had no problems with the way Walker and Lehman handled the investigation, he said that Guity didn't fully know or explore all angles of the case.
During Guity's testimony, the 25-year veteran of the department described his anger about how the case was handled after the incident was reported.
"Sgt. Guity advised he called ACOP (Assistant Chief of Police) and asked him what was happening," the report states. "ACOP Garcia told him the situation was under control, they were with Lt. Addison and they were going to go with him to get belongings for the night."
Guity asked that night what action they planned to take.
Garcia and Walker told Guity that Addison was fine. "ACOP Garcia stated something to the effect, if they were in the county, 'Brent would be stuffed and cuffed.'"
Guity was not pleased, responding to Garcia with "something like, 'Well, if that's the way you feel....You got blood on your hands if you're not doing nothing.'"
Garcia testified that Guity was angry more action wasn't taken against Addison.
"He told me if it would have been his black a--, he would have been in jail," Garcia said in his testimony.
Garcia said Guity's statements were out of character. "His rambling was, uh, out of character for him and, uh, certainly out of character for my and his relationship for him to speak to me that way," Garcia said in his testimony.
The Sheriff's Office isn't the only outside agency looking into the case.
Because of the allegations of untruthfulness, State Attorney Brian Haas said he plans to review the internal investigation.
Haas said he will also wait on the result of the Sheriff's Office investigation.
If Haas has ample concern about the actions of the officers, he could no longer accept their testimony in cases based on a lack of credibility.
Christopher Guinn can be reached at Christopher.Guinn@theledger.com or 863-802-7592. John Chambliss can be reached at john.chambliss@theledger.com or 863-802-7588.