ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A deputy facing a criminal charge took the stand Thursday to tell the jury his account of what happened when the man he was taking into custody caught fire at a gas station.
Prosecutors are trying to prove the Taser he picked up caused the fire that badly burned a biker who deputies had followed from Osceola County to an Orlando-area Wawa in February 2022.
Deputy David Crawford said he was “nervous” when he arrived at the gas station.
“I was nervous due to the fact that he was at a very popular gas station and that the safety of everybody there was in jeopardy,” Crawford said.
Video from Crawford’s own body-worn camera shows him standing behind a pillar out of view from the biker, a then 26-year-old Jean Baretto-Baerga. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office says deputies had followed Baretto-Baerga that day after receiving reports about a group of people on dirt bikes driving recklessly and pointing a gun at other drivers. The sheriff later admitted a gun was never found.
Crawford’s attorney, Michael Barber, questioned him about how law enforcement officers are forced to react in fast-moving situations. Crawford said he must rely on “training and muscle memory.”
He said he believed Baretto-Baerga was the suspect who was seen earlier with a gun, based on descriptions given by other deputies that he heard in transmissions. When he saw other deputies pull into the parking lot, he decided to move in.
Crawford said he wanted to surprise Baretto-Baerga and approached him with his back turned while he was fueling up at the pump. But Crawford said he didn’t know the gas cap was off the bike and he did not see the gas nozzle before he pushed Baretto-Baerga off his bike.
“His body was blocking the view of the gas tank, and the sun was directly in my eyes,” Crawford told the jury.
Crawford’s body camera shows other deputies arrive on scene and quickly engage with Baretto-Baerga. Evidence presented over the last four days revealed it was Deputy Chris Koffinas who drew his Taser and used it on Baretto-Baerga first.
Koffinas also took the stand Thursday and admitted that using Tasers around gas pumps is against his law enforcement training. He received a 40-hour suspension after an internal affairs investigation.
After it was deployed, Crawford picked the Taser up from the ground and, shortly after he warned Baretto-Baerga he “was going to get tased again,” flames are visible on the body-worn camera video.
Crawford says the Taser was on the ground next to Baretto-Baerga’s arm and gasoline that was pooling around them after he knocked Baretto-Baerga off his bike. Crawford told the jury he was concerned about the Taser being so close to Baretto-Baerga, so he reached for it.
“Why?” asked Barber. “He would be able to retrieve the Taser and use it,” answered Crawford.
Crawford said he never intended to actually use the Taser on Baretto-Baerga.
“I knew we were in gas, and I wanted to get the Taser away from it,” said Crawford.
Prosecutors argue that Crawford is responsible for the chaos that occurred at the gas station, despite his defense attorney’s claims that video evidence never shows Crawford aiming the Taser at Baretto-Baerga on the ground.
Assistant State Attorney Ryan Walker said if Crawford was truly concerned about the public’s safety, then he would have considered a more appropriate place to take Baretto-Baerga into custody. Surveillance video played in court during the trial showed people, including a family’s car with children nearby, when the fire started.
“Can we agree that an explosion at a gas station full of people is a bigger concern than the dirt bike running off?” Assistant State Attorney Ryan Williams asked Crawford during cross examination. “Not necessarily,” Crawford replied.
Crawford maintains that the situation escalated because Baretto-Baerga resisted arrest.
“Despite the fact that this man did not have a firearm and burned over 65% of his body, if confronted with the same situation today you would do it all the same?” Williams asked Crawford.
“On the information given to me, yes,” replied Crawford.
The state’s case centered on testimony from deputies who responded to the gas station along with Crawford, the lead detective who handled the criminal investigation, a fire investigator, and a manager at Axon Enterprise, the company that makes and sells the Taser used in this case.
Crawford is facing a misdemeanor charge of culpable negligence.
(STORY CONTINUES BELOW)
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the Orange County courtroom, trying to prove that Crawford knew the danger of the gasoline that had spilled around them yet deployed the Taser anyway on Baretto-Baerga, who deputies say was resisting arrest.
Jurors on Tuesday watched dramatic body-worn camera footage showing the moments the Taser was deployed near the spilled gasoline, sparking a fire that burned both Crawford and Baretto-Baerga, the latter extensively.
Crawford faces up to one year behind bars or a fine if he is convicted.
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