Officer’s Responsibility in Stolen Gainesville Police Dept. Car?
By Heather Sorentrue - WCJB TV 20 News
Gainesville, FL - 6-29-04
A Gainesville Police officer left his patrol car unlocked, enabling a Newberry man to steal it during a crime spree on Monday. Gainesville police officials say Officer Nick Byrd took a few steps away from his vehicle Monday because Tyler Gualtney told him someone beat him and the attacker was close by.
Police say Officer Byrd acted with concern for residents in the area. GPD Spokesperson Keith Kameg says district commanders will review detectives’ reports to determine whether any department policies were violated that would have led to the police car being stolen. At this point, GPD is not laying any blame on Officer Nick Byrd.
"I’m not going to say the officer was a fault in anything. Like in any situation at GPD, this will be reviews," says Sgt. Keith Kameg.
Tyler Gualtney, 22, of Newberry is accused of stealing the officer’s police car on Monday outside the Krispy Kreme on Northwest 13th Street. After beating a man with a brick, officials say Gualtney, covered in his victim’s blood, told Officer Byrd he had been attacked and the suspect was close.
"He looked at what was a possible threat or looked for the threat. The guy got in his car, and the car was closed, not locked, and the guy drove away," says Kameg.
According to GPD’s general order on department vehicles, police cars should be secured (locked) when unattended, but there’s room for a circumstance demanding immediate action.
District commanders will decide whether this case falls into that category.
"There’s a very different story between shutting your door – looking for a suspect, as opposed to leaving your car open with the keys in it and walking to go get lunch," say Kameg.
But, Kameg says, they do want to learn from what happened, "Is there something we could’ve done differently? Is there a way to repark the car? Is there something, we might want to look at, e.g., keyless entries for our cars?"
GPD officials say if district commanders feel a policy was violated, the issue will go to internal affairs. Kameg says a decision will take about a week.
Meanwhile, Tyler Gualtney remains at the Alachua County Jail without bond.