2 Putnam detectives fired after bar brawl

A Putnam County detective who lost a handgun in a bar fight and another who was belligerent and flashed his badge that night at the same bar have been fired by Sheriff Jeff Hardy.

Josh Maynard and Raymond Strickland were off duty and had been drinking at the Hi-Level bar in Palatka June 8 when Maynard pinched a woman then fought with her boyfriend, according to witnesses interviewed for a Sheriff's Office investigation. During the fight Maynard lost a concealed weapon that was retrieved by the bar owner.

Maynard, who was hired in 2011, was fired Wednesday, spokeswoman Paula Priester said. The investigation concluded he was highly intoxicated, instigated a bar fight, took a concealed weapon to a bar and lost it. During his interview in the investigation, he recalled having lots to drink and multiple shots of alcohol.

After Maynard's gun was discovered missing, Strickland was belligerent and rude to bar employees and flashed his badge, investigators were told. He was one day short of finishing his one-year probation and was fired Monday, Priester said.

At the Hi-Level, Strickland violated conduct standards by being belligerent, rude and misusing his badge while drinking. As a member of a covert Sheriff's Office unit, he endangered that unit by identifying himself as law enforcement at a bar, the investigation concluded.

In November, Strickland was ruled justified in the shooting death of Alfred Dobson, 35, an unarmed, mentally ill Satsuma man. Dobson was shot seven times in a violent struggle in July. Strickland had been back with the department a month after leaving in 2007.

He was re-hired in Putnam after nearly losing his job with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in 2010. In that case he pinned a security guard against a wall at a Tampa swimming pool after being caught urinating in public, then berated Tampa police officers called to the scene.

When he re-applied in Putnam, Hardy said Strickland told him he learned a valuable lesson.

Thursday, Priester said the sheriff gave Strickland a second chance.

"He gave him a second chance, and it didn't turn out," she said.

The detectives were at the Hi-Level with girlfriends when Maynard got into the fight with a patron, whose girlfriend was pinched as she walked past Maynard. The boyfriend told investigators Maynard came over and pushed him twice, so he fought back punching Maynard. The fight was broken up, and Maynard was asked to leave.

During the fight, Maynard had dropped a .380-caliber handgun that was picked up by a bar patron and given to owner Larry Adkins. Before Maynard left, Adkins refused to give the gun back.

Later, Strickland took his wallet out and threw his badge in Adkins' face, the owner said, according to the investigation. Adkins said he thought it was an effort to get Maynard's gun back, but Strickland never told him that.

Because Strickland was on probation, he has no option to appeal his dismissal. Maynard has until Friday to ask for a hearing on his firing.

dana.treen@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4091