Fired Pasco deputy may get job back

NEW PORT RICHEY — Edward Tucker learned he'd been fired from the Sheriff's Office when a sergeant and an investigator woke him up with a knock on his door at 6 a.m. one morning last month.

They handed him a termination letter from Sheriff Bob White and took his gun, cruiser and other Sheriff's Office property, he said in court Tuesday.

It was the first he knew he would be fired.

Because the Sheriff's Office didn't give him more notice, Circuit Judge Stanley Mills said Tuesday, Tucker may wind up back on the job.

Tucker has filed for an injunction that would essentially force White to put him back on the job. Mills said he needed more time to digest the issues before ruling, but he warned the Sheriff's Office that it needs to give under-fire employees better notice.

The Sheriff's Office began investigating Tucker in May and found that he spent hours at a Little Road cafe when he was supposed to be on patrol. The accusations against him also included delayed response to calls; falsification of documents for failing to accurately log his time at various calls; and failure to exercise his duties and responsibilities at a call.

The investigation of Tucker and another deputy, Andrew Izrailov, concluded in November, which is within the time limit mandated by state law for a law enforcement agency to investigate one of its own members.

But the law, the Police Officers' Bill of Rights, also says members have to be notified of any "proposed disciplinary action" so they can decide how and whether to fight it.

The Sheriff's Office gave Tucker a pre-disciplinary hearing notice, which he signed. It did not specifically state which punishment Tucker would face. It simply said:

"The Sheriff's Office is sincere in its desire to review all available information before disciplinary action (i.e., suspension, demotion, and/or dismissal) is determined."

Mills said that's not adequate.

"You might as well say, 'i.e., anything we do that would be harmful to you' or 'that you might not like much,' " Mills said. "It doesn't seem to me to be the spirit of the law."

Mills said an employee who was facing termination might choose a different course of action — such as hiring a lawyer — than someone who was being suspended for a day or two.

He and Izrailov also have hearings next month scheduled before the Sheriff's Office career service appeals board, appealing their firings on the facts of the investigation.

Richard Corcoran, White's attorney, said the sheriff tried to give Tucker enough notice.

"The intent of the Sheriff's Office is to be more fair, not less fair," Corcoran said.

Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6245.