Marion deputy suspended following internal investigation into handling of possible DUI
Florida Fraternal Order of Police President says he may call for FDLE investigation
A Marion County Sheriff's Office deputy has been suspended for two days following an internal investigation into his handling of a possible DUI case.
Raw video: Marion deputy conducts field sobriety test
In the early-morning hours on Jan. 18, Deputy Calvin Batts pulled over 26-year-old Matthew Tillander, the son of former Ocala bar owner and City Council candidate Bobby Tillander.
The investigation was caught on dash camera video.
"You've been drinking a little tonight?" Batts asked.
"No, sir," Matthew Tillander said.
"I can smell it coming off you," Batts said.
According to court records, when Bobby Tillander learned his son was pulled over, he called Maj. Tommy Bibb, the leader of the special investigations unit at the Sheriff's Office.
Matthew Tillander can then be seen answering a phone call during the middle of a field sobriety test.
"Sir, please hang up the phone," Batts said. "I don't want anybody else coming up in this traffic stop."
"This is (Sheriff) Chris Blair. You want to talk to him?" Matthew Tillander said.
"I'd rather not," Batts said.
Batts never got on the phone, but a few minutes later gets a call of his own.
Bibb then allegedly called Batts and told him to hold off on an arrest until he talked with Blair. A few minutes later, Bibb called Batts back and said the Sheriff wanted Batts to "do what he needed to do."
Batts had already decided not to charge Matthew Tillander and let a friend drive him home.
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The sheriff's office said questions were later raised about the situation so Blair ordered an internal investigation. It concluded with Bibb being suspended for two days without pay and ordered to make apologies.
"That's the reason why Sheriff Blair himself called for an internal investigation because we want to show transparency here and we want to show that there is no favoritism," said Capt. James Pogue, Sheriff's Office spokesman. "It would appear that Maj. Bibb interfered in the investigation which may or may not have hampered the decision making process of Deputy Batts and he was disciplined."
Batts told the Sheriff's Office he would have arrested Matthew Tillander had he not been influence by Bibb.
There are questions as to whether Bibb's punishment was severe enough. The president of the Florida Fraternal Order of Police said he may call for a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation.
This is not Matthew Tillander's first run-in with the law. He currently faces felony drug and resisting arrest with violence charges for another traffic stop in December 2013.