Sarasota parking enforcement battery arrest: Driver claims worker escalated dispute
Sarasota driver speaks out after arrest
A driver facing a felony battery charge after a St. Armands Circle dispute claims a Sarasota parking employee escalated the conflict and hid her identity. FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports.
SARASOTA, Fla - A driver facing a felony battery charge after a St. Armands Circle dispute claims a Sarasota parking employee escalated the conflict and hid her identity.
Sarasota police arrest driver
What we know:
Anita Valdez was heading to work on St. Armands Circle when a City of Sarasota parking enforcement car blocked her path. Valdez admitted she yelled at the worker while driving around the vehicle, but she said she never put her hands on anyone.
RELATED: 'Emotions are high': Sarasota leaders urge peace after parking worker assault
"I’m yelling ‘can you please move, I need to get to work?’ I realized she’s pursuing me in her parking car," said Valdez.
Valdez said the parking enforcement vehicle followed her to a parking spot, when City parking enforcement employee Catina Sears told her she could not park in the designated spot.
"I said to her, ‘where are your credentials? I want your name and your badge,’" she said.
When Valdez asked for identification, she said Sears concealed her badge and information. Valdez said she leaned down to take a photo, prompting Sears to begin screaming.
Sarasota police later arrested Valdez for battery after Sears told officers that Valdez forcefully grabbed her lanyard.
Driver speaks on encounter
What they're saying:
Valdez called the experience a total nightmare and said she believes something good can come from what happened to her.
"She told me 'you’re going down…**tch,'" Valdez said. "I never put a hand on her at all. Never intentionally touched any of her person. I was trying to see her name tag and she started hollering. Maybe she’s had some trauma I don’t know. I was like unbelievable," she said.
Valdez added that citizens have a right to know who is confronting them in public spaces.
"We have the right to question authority once in a while, and we have a right to know who is confronting us," Valdez said. "We all want to be protected and kept safe, and I think it’s a matter of all of that. Maybe this happened for a reason. I think this person kind of weeded herself out. I don’t feel that she was credible and shouldn’t have been in this uniform in the first place had she handled things differently this whole scenario would have been different. It’s not my MO to be abusive or that type of aggressive. I’m assertive, and I absolutely believe in standing up for myself. In asking those questions. I have a right to know who I’m dealing with. That was not given to me that day."
August false imprisonment report
The backstory:
This is not the first incident involving Sears and a driver in Sarasota.
On August 16 at approximately 2:20 p.m., Sarasota police officers responded to a dispute at 57 North Adams Drive. Officer Shapiro found Sears using her city vehicle to block a driver into a space in a public parking garage.
Sears claimed the driver backed into a space incorrectly, flipped her off, and called her names. The report said Sears was initially dishonest to police about trapping the vehicle before admitting she blocked the driver in to prevent him from leaving.
Police determined the driver committed no crime and no parking violation, finding probable cause to charge Sears with false imprisonment. The driver declined to press charges, because he simply wanted to leave the garage.
City mandates employee training
What's next:
The City of Sarasota confirmed Sears remains employed while officials review the incident. City leaders met with Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche and parking management to address tension between attendants and the public.
All parking attendants must now attend mandatory de-escalation training with police, alongside upcoming customer service classes. The City of Sarasota released the following statement:
"We are actively reviewing procedures to reduce tensions and strengthen relations between the City’s parking enforcement personnel and the community.
Current conditions and de-escalation tactics were discussed recently during a meeting with City Manager Karie Friling, Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche, Parking Division management and parking enforcement staff. Resulting from that discussion: All Parking Attendants will be required to attend de-escalation training in partnership with the SPD, which is already scheduled. In addition, customer service training will begin in the near future. A key component of these trainings will be our parking enforcement team serving as welcoming ambassadors who greet and assist visitors.
City Manager Friling will continue to work with the Parking Division and SPD in other areas of collaboration. Decisions are anticipated to be made soon which will benefit the Parking employees and the community."
Valdez is scheduled to appear in court on October 2 and believes her charges could be dropped in light of the prior police report.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon from driver Anita Valdez, the City of Sarasota, and an official incident report from the Sarasota Police Department.