DeLAND, Fla. – A DeLand Police officer who lied about going to a crime scene during a home invasion investigation said he did it because he was sick of his supervisors yelling at him, and he wanted to avoid punishment, according to an internal affairs report.
Officials said the investigation began after Officer Paul Turner was called to a report of a woman being beaten up by another woman who broke into her home on May 18. By the time Turner arrived, the woman had walked away from the home so Turner met her at her location rather than at the crime scene, then went with her to an area hospital so she could receive treatment for wounds to her face and arms.
From the hospital, Turner drove by the crime scene but then went to help conduct a DUI investigation and spent about three hours at that scene, records show.
Turner completed a charging affidavit for the home invasion and battery, but when a supervisor saw it, he asked that revisions be made because important details were missing, according to the report. A corporal asked Turner if he went to the crime scene and Turner said he had, but when he updated the report, he wrote that he did not go to the scene "due to call volume at the time of the initial investigation and later when (he) tried to talk to someone at the home there was no answer at the door," documents said.
The discrepancies between Turner's statements prompted the corporal to notify a sergeant and a lieutenant about the incident and Turner then wrote in his final report that he went to the home where the crime occurred but was not able to speak with anyone there, authorities said.
"He said he went to the home of a woman who was battered during a burglary," City of DeLand spokesman Chris Graham said. "Come to find out, he never went there."
Officials said information from Turner's vehicle proved that he drove by the home, but never stopped there, before submitting his charging affidavit.
Records show Turner went to the home the day after he submitted the charging affidavit and spoke to a woman there who said the suspect and the victim had been fighting for months over a man with whom they were romantically involved.
"It was a constantly changing story in regards to whether he actually responded in that case," Graham said.
When asked about why he lied in the charging affidavit and to his superiors, Turner said he did it because he was in fear of reprimand, according to authorities. Turner said he was ashamed of his actions, it was out of character for him, and he wasn't happy with himself.
"We're all getting called into the office and the morale was just through the floor at that point because we're constantly getting yelled at. I was just fed up with it and wanted to avoid getting yelled at one morning. It's not the right decision, obviously, but that was the original reason why. I was just fed up (from) getting yelled at and I just wanted it to go away for a few hours," Turner said, according to the report.
Turner was found to have violated department policies pertaining to neglect of duty, falsifying an official record, careless and truthfulness. He was terminated on Oct. 18.
Turner marks the third DeLand police officer to be fired this year.
"As far as the standards at the police department, the chief just wants to maintain high standards and people who are not meeting that threshold are getting caught and they're no longer employed," Graham said.