ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The defense will call their witnesses Thursday in the trial of an Osceola County deputy accused of using a Taser at a gas station and setting a man on fire.
Deputy David Crawford was charged with culpable negligence in the incident, which occurred in 2022 at a Wawa on Central Florida Parkway. Crawford and other deputies had followed 26-year-old Jean Baretto-Baerga through Osceola County to the Wawa because he was allegedly driving his motorcycle recklessly.
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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 on a charge of culpable negligence.
ClickOrlando.com will stream the trial live at the top of this story.
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