A Polk County Sheriff’s deputy was fired on Wednesday, accused of propositioning two women he had arrested, to expose their bodies in exchange for preferential treatment.
Deputy Sheriff Julio Garcia, 26, was charged yesterday with three counts – 1) unlawful compensation/reward for official behavior, 2) use/display of a firearm during a felony offense, 3) and falsifying an official record/document by a public servant.
Investigators said, the first allegation was made by a woman on November 2, 2013, during an interview about an unrelated investigation. The woman told the detective that she had been propositioned by Garcia while she was under arrest.
Another woman, contacted by investigating deputies on January 2, 2014, told a similar story to the one told by the first woman – that Garcia asked to look at and touch her in exchange for favors.
Detectives conducted an undercover surveillance of Garcia on January 5, 2014, and January 9, 2014, while he was on duty working in a patrol function. Undercover detectives discovered that Garcia left his assigned area numerous times while on patrol without a request to his supervisor or documenting that he had left his assigned area. Garcia later falsified official records by stating that he had patrolled certain areas at certain times when he was observed by surveilling deputies to be elsewhere.
Garcia was suspended on Friday, January 17, 2014, pending termination procedures. He was arrested on January 22, 2014, by deputies and was booked into the Polk County Jail. He was given the opportunity to resign, refused.
Garcia was hired by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in August, 2011.
