TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa police officer was fired after the agency said he put a man in a chokehold and placed hands on his neck while attempting to arrest him for domestic battery.
TPD announced Tuesday that Michael Scaglione, who had been employed with the department since August 2016, was fired for violating the organization’s policies and procedures for a suspect resisting arrest.
Investigators say Officer Scaglione and Officer Anthony Girouard responded to a report of domestic battery back on April 12 in the area of North 10th Street.
Bodycam video from Tampa police shows the officers trying to place handcuffs on a suspect who was pulling away from them and refusing to put his hands behind his back.
During the struggle, both the suspect and Officer Scaglione fell to the ground.
"Stop resisting, stop resisting!" one of the officers can be heard saying in the video.
After falling, Scaglione grabbed his left wrist with his right hand, putting the man in a "chokehold" and applying pressure to his neck, according to investigators. The man reportedly lost consciousness for eight seconds.
Investigators said the man went limp and started snoring when Officer Scaglione released the chokehold and repositioned his hand on the back of the man's neck.
Once the man regained consciousness and started resisting arrest again, Officer Scaglione placed his right hand around the man's throat to pin him to the ground, according to the police department.
That's when Officer Scaglione reportedly made a closed fist and hit the man in the head three to four times — an action Scaglione is said to have later failed to include in his report of the arrest.
A short time later, the man was placed in handcuffs and taken into custody.
The Tampa Police Department shared Scaglione's body-worn camera footage.
Warning: The following video shows sensitive content and may be disturbing for some viewers.
Investigators looking into Scaglione's use of force determined that a 3-year-old was present during the initial domestic battery.
"Neither officer followed up on this information by attempting to interview the potential 3-year-old witness or by contacting DCF," the investigation report reads.
The alleged victim of the domestic battery also told the officers that someone had been sexually abused by the suspect's son. Investigators found that the officers also failed to follow up on these allegations.
The Special Victims Unit has since completed an investigation into these allegations.
Investigators concluded that in addition to the chokehold, which is an unauthorized use of force, Scaglione and Girourd failed to report the 3-year-old witness, the sexual abuse allegations and Scaglione's three to four strikes to the suspect's head.
Due to his reported violation of policies, Scaglione's employment was terminated on Nov. 5, 2024.
Girouard received a letter of counseling for a violation of attentiveness to duty.
"Domestic violence investigations are one of the most dangerous and volatile situations an officer can respond to, and the dynamics can quickly change,” Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement. “It is imperative that, even in the heat of the moment, officers must be able to respond according to established policies and training procedures which were developed to ensure the safety of the officers as well as the public. In this case, these standard expectations were not met, and his employment was terminated.”