By John Woodrow Cox, Times Staff Writer
Friday, March 9, 2012
BROOKSVILLE — Fired Brooksville police Officer Bryan Drinkard was arrested by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office on Friday and charged with burglary, grand theft and stalking.
His attorney, Jimmy Brown, said the charges stemmed from allegations made by Drinkard's former girlfriend and co-worker, Tiffany Still.
When Drinkard was apprehended south of Brooksville on Friday afternoon, authorities say, he had in his possession a pair of handguns and a 12-gauge shotgun, along with ammunition. He appeared intoxicated.
Drinkard, records say, had at different times stalked Still, taken jewelry and a checkbook from her home and, in one case over the past two months, arranged for a fellow officer, Joseph Nelson, to help him follow her.
When Nelson realized that evening what Drinkard wanted him to do, authorities say, the officer told him that he wanted nothing to do with the plan.
Drinkard then asked him not to tell anyone about it. Nelson left and later reported the incident to a superior.
Drinkard was suspended early last week after Still reported the incidents to her bosses at the Brooksville Police Department and they launched an internal affairs investigation.
His superiors immediately ordered him to turn in his badge and his gun.
On Feb. 28, with his finger on the trigger, Drinkard walked into the agency's lobby and placed his loaded .45-caliber Glock on the counter, security video shows. The former patrolman, authorities say, would later acknowledge that he was so drunk he couldn't remember dropping off the firearm. It sat, unnoticed and unsecured, for more than four minutes.
Normally, Still sits in the receptionist's chair behind a sheet of glass on the other side of the counter on which Drinkard left his gun. At that moment, she wasn't there.
The day after the incident, Chief George Turner terminated Drinkard for what he called "gross negligence." The officer had worked for the department since 2007.
Drinkard, 44, had a history of problems at other agencies. In 2003, he resigned from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office while being investigated for violating agency policy.
After Drinkard's firing last week, Turner suspended the internal affairs investigation and released the record.
Earlier this week, Turner said his agency had not pursued charges against Drinkard because the alleged crimes occurred outside Brooksville.
Turner said he was told after Friday's arrest that authorities had found Drinkard carrying some type of Brooksville police identification. If that's true, the chief said, his agency will pursue charges against Drinkard for having stolen property.
Drinkard will be held at the Hernando County Detention Center without bail until he goes before a judge this morning.
In his mug shot, his skin looks tomato red, his cheeks are covered in stubble, and he's wearing a toothy, crooked grin on his face.
John Woodrow Cox can be reached at (352) 848-1432 or jcox@tampabay.com.