Two Volusia County courthouse deputies were "horseplaying" and their fooling around included activating a stun gun in a DeLand courtroom as a judge sat on the bench conducting business, a Sheriff's Office investigation shows.
Much of the interaction between deputies Veronica Hadd and Steven Wells was observed on a courtroom camera and both served 16-hour suspensions last month, Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs documents show.
In the video of the Oct. 17, 2017 incident, Wells could be seen starting the shenanigans by marking Hadd's arm with a highlighter. Hadd then attempted to grab Wells' arm. Wells then rolled up a small towel and hit Hadd on the side of the face. The antics continued as Hadd picked up the marker, then punched Wells in the arm and tried to mark Wells' face.
Wells is 43 years old and Hadd is 30 and their acts started getting others' attention during a felony hearing in front of Circuit Judge James R. Clayton. Several other people, including attorneys, spectators and an inmate were also in the courtroom.
Just after the initial back-and-forth, Wells walked over and put his arms on Hadd's shoulder. Then she pulled her duty-issued X26P Taser from its holster, removed the cartridge and pulled the trigger causing the device to display a warning arc, documents indicate.
The sound of the stun gun lasted for two seconds and two attorneys in the courtroom took notice, investigators said. The clicking sound prompted one attorney to ask another, "Was that a Taser?" The other attorney answered, "That was in fact a Taser," records show.
This investigation is the latest in a number of probes into the behavior of courthouse deputies in Volusia and Flagler counties. Incidents that date back to 2015 also include horseplay, but others were more serious. An ongoing investigation in Flagler County is examining accusations of deputy intimidation. Another completed inquiry in Volusia County showed the two deputies used their positions to start sexual relationships with women participating in drug court.
In the most recent horseplay case, a 21-year veteran deputy interviewed by Internal Affairs investigators said he thought it immature for Wells and Hadd to activate the Taser in the courtroom, according to the reports.
Wells, who has worked 18 years with the Sheriff's Office, said his courtroom interactions with Hadd are part of their working relationship and that he and Hadd got along well.
"I horseplay with everybody. It's just my persona," Wells told Internal Affairs investigators.
Hadd, a three-year Volusia deputy, said that being hit in the face "kind of pissed me off" and that she was "annoyed" and "irritated" by Wells' actions. Hadd said she had punched Wells but thought that wasn't enough so she went for the Taser, documents state.
"I mean I don't remember, but it's not like I was gonna shoot him," Hadd told investigators, the report detailed.
The Volusia Sheriff's Office has been dealing with courthouse deputies who violate work policy going on three years.
A major case surfaced in 2017 when two courthouse deputies, Bryan Scott Barnett, 50 and Jay Hawman, 47, were accused of preying on women in the drug court program. That year another deputy, Tammy Thoman, quit while she was investigated for creating a hostile work environment. In that case, Wells was also interviewed after co-workers said he horse-played with Thoman in the court's security control room in a manner that was sexual in nature.
Also in 2017, another courthouse deputy, Brant Lickiss, was suspended for 40 hours without pay after investigators said he met with a woman at a hotel in Port Orange. The woman, Raven Bell, was being investigated for grand theft.
In Barnett's and Hawman's case, at least 10 women in the drug court program interviewed said that former deputies preyed on them in a practice that came to be known as "13 Stepping," or meeting them for sex when they were emotionally vulnerable because of their substance abuse problems.
Barnett was allowed to resign under former sheriff Ben Johnson and Hawman was fired by Sheriff Mike Chitwood.
Lickiss, who had been involved in a shooting that left a DeLand lawyer dead, was on administrative leave and while working as a courthouse deputy, he was investigated for associating with and meeting Bell at a hotel. Lickiss met Bell at the Comfort Suites Inn in Port Orange on April 3, 2017, even though he knew she was a suspect in thefts of five rings and dealing in stolen property, records show.
Thoman retired before her investigation was completed.
On Wednesday, Thoman's husband, Patrick Thoman, a retired lieutenant who was a high ranking official of the Sheriff's Office Major Case Unit, said his wife was targeted by the department for complaining against her supervisor.
In 2015, Ralph Cerulli quit after he tested positive for drugs. Cerulli worked as a bailiff for County Judge Shirley Green at the New Smyrna Beach Courthouse Annex and walked out of the courtroom when he was ordered to call the drug screening representative after his urine sample tested positive for narcotics, investigators said.
That same year, another deputy, Terry Laloo quit after he was demoted for challenging an inmate to fight him outside then county judge Peter MaGlashan's courtroom, reports revealed.
In the most recent case, in Flagler County, two of three courthouse deputies accused of creating an “air of intimidation and fear” for a pair of judicial assistants were reassigned to road patrol and an Internal Affairs investigation on them is being conducted.
According to documents obtained by The News-Journal, two Flagler judicial assistants at the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center claimed that deputy Jeff Puritis, Sgt. John Bray and deputy Jonathan Freshcorn had fostered an “untenable work environment” and helped create an “air of intimidation and fear” for them at the Bunnell courthouse. The allegations involve lewd text messages, sexual harassment, racial and homophobic slurs, Flagler officials said.
That investigation was initially sparked by the 7th Judicial Circuit judges.
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