Deputy fired after 'inaction' related to call for help
Deputy Jeffrey Lamondra with Hernando County Sheriff receiving a 10-year Longevity Recognition Award March 20, 2017. (Hernando County Sheriff's Office Facebook)
SPRING HILL (FOX 13) - The Hernando County Sheriff's Office says a deputy was fired for policy violations after his interactions with a man wearing only underwear and carrying a catheter bag.
An Internal Affairs investigation report says Deputy Jeffrey Lamondra violated several policies when he and another responding deputy called a cab for a 60-year-old man in his underwear and holding a catheter drainage bag at an address in Spring Hill.
The report says Deputy Lamondra and Deputy Brian Schneider were sent to Mariner Blvd. just before midnight on February 12, after someone called about a suspicious person. The deputies found Patsy Horan, for whom they called a cab to take him to the address associated with his name in the law enforcement database.
About an hour and a half later, the cab driver called Zephyrhills police because Horan would not get out of the vehicle, the report says. The driver told police Horan refused to leave the cab because he did not live at the address. The report says officers realized Horan needed medical help and, under the Baker Act, took him to the hospital.
The sheriff's office says Horan is now getting the care he needs at an assisted living facility in Zephyrhills.
Meanwhile, the investigation found Deputy Lamondra violated several rules related to preliminary investigations, computerized records security, and the code of conduct. Lamondra, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff's office, was terminated.
"An Internal Affairs Investigation revealed that Lamondra's inactions during a call for service involving an elderly person are in complete conflict with the basic doctrines of public service. Deputy Lamondra brought significant embarrassment and discredit to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office," a statement from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputy Brian Schneider was found to have violated rules related to preliminary investigations, the code of conduct. The sheriff's office did not say if Schneider faced any disciplinary action related to the investigation's findings.