Counting 'em Down: For better or for worse, this is the Headline Surfer countdown of the 2021's Top 100 biggest news stories of Central Florida along the tourism-driven stretch of Interstate 4 (Orlando Attractions and east to I-95 & the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona). Each recap segment is posted with its own headline, culminating with the unveiling of No. 1 in the first two weeks of January, if not sooner, before switching to the Top 5 storylines -- the good, the bad & the ugly on the horizon in "2022: The Year That Lies Ahead."
Photos for Headline Surfer / Above: Cpl. David Hernandez, a k9 cop with the Longwood Police Department in Longwood, Florida, was fired in February 2021, following an internal affairs investigation into complaints that he harassed a co-worker in July 2020 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic by talking into her phone and hugging her in a mocking way against her will in exploiting her fears of COVID. Below: Hernandez had been employed with Longwood PD since 2005 and had no prior disciplinary issues. Among the allegations against him were conduct unbecoming, employee harassment, and violation of safety practices.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
LONGWOOD, Fla. -- A Longwood cop was fired in early February 2021 following a co-worker’s complaint over the previous summer that he mocked her concerns about the coronavirus and hugged her against her wishes.
An internal investigation by the Longwood Police Department also found that Cpl. David Hernandez also misled investigators who probed the allegations against him.
The woman told investigators she made it clear to Hernandez that she feared contracting COVID-19. But Hernandez followed her into her workspace, taunting her about her fears of the coronavirus.
The report said Hernandez would touch the woman's personal items and speak into her phone while joking that he doesn't have the coronavirus.
At one point it's alleged the woman struggled to get free of Hernandez and injured her finger and back in the process.
In the internal investigation documents, Longwood's police chief wrote that Hernandez was not fully forthcoming and not truthful, which contributed to the decision to fire him.
While the word battery was in the documents, no criminal investigation took place at the request of the woman who filed the complaint.
When an officer's credibility is called into question, the state attorney's office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are notified.
Longwood police officials said they do not know of any cases where the former corporal was an untruthful witness.
His firing is still subject to an upcoming arbitration hearing in which he could try to get his job back.
Here is a synopsis of an internal affairs investigation by the Longwood Police Department that investigation that led to Hernandez's termination:
"(The woman) told you not to touch her and physically backed away from you and crossed her arms. This was more than sufficient indication for you to know to stop trying to embrace her; however, you ignored her comments and moments later embraced her.’ `
She complained and said that Hernandez had ‘disregarded her verbal instruction not to touch her, and then embraced her against her will.’ She said she had made it clear she was avoiding physical contact because she did not want to contract coronavirus.
Hernandez is said to have followed and taunted the woman, and also deliberately touched items on her desk to try and unnerve her. She cut her finger while trying to push Hernandez off her, with the former cop.
Longwood Police Department investigators also determined that Cpl. David Hernandez was “not fully forthcoming and not truthful” about the allegations after his co-worker filed a complaint about the July incident, according to internal investigative documents obtained through a public records request.
Hernandez ignored his co-worker’s instructions not to touch her, according to the investigative reports. Instead, he followed her into her workspace while “taunting her with comments about her being afraid of contracting COVID-19,” which was surging in Florida at the time. The employee also alleged that she hurt her finger and back while struggling to escape from Hernandez.
Hernandez ignored his co-worker’s instructions not to touch her, according to the investigative reports. Instead, he followed her into her workspace while “taunting her with comments about her being afraid of contracting COVID-19,” which was surging in Florida at the time. The employee also alleged that she hurt her finger and back while struggling to escape from Hernandez.
In a letter to the discipline review board, Hernandez said he told the woman that he “couldn’t believe she was such a germaphobe” and that in an attempt to make her laugh, he waved his hands above her personal items and talked into her phone while saying he didn’t have the coronavirus. He also denied touching her after she said she didn’t want to hug, although he wrote that he raised his arm as if to put it on her shoulder.
People have weaponized the coronavirus in stores by licking or coughing on products, sometimes leading to criminal charges. In one case, a man accused of licking deodorant in a Missouri Walmart was charged with making a terrorist threat in the second degree, a felony.
Longwood Police Chief David Dowda emphasized the allegations that Hernandez, a member of the department since 2005, had violated his co-worker’s physical boundaries in his review of the situation, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which first reported the termination.
The woman “told you not to touch her and physically backed away from you and crossed her arms,” Dowda wrote. “This was more than sufficient indication for you to know to stop trying to embrace her.”
Dowda added that Hernandez gave investigators “inaccurate and conflicting information” several times and withheld relevant facts. In addition to violating department policies on safety, harassment, and conduct, Hernandez’s actions also met the requirements for a criminal battery charge, Dowda wrote. He noted that the force did not conduct a criminal investigation because the female employee did not want to press charges.
Longwood Police Chief David Dowda emphasized the allegations that Hernandez, a member of the department since 2005, had violated his co-worker’s physical boundaries in his review of the situation, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which first reported the termination. The woman “told you not to touch her and physically backed away from you and crossed her arms,” Dowda wrote. “This was more than sufficient indication for you to know to stop trying to embrace her.” Dowda added that Hernandez gave investigators “inaccurate and conflicting information” several times and withheld relevant facts. In addition to violating department policies on safety, harassment, and conduct, Hernandez’s actions also met the requirements for a criminal battery charge, Dowda wrote. He noted that the force did not conduct a criminal investigation because the female employee did not want to press charges.
Hernandez is entitled to an arbitration hearing in which he can contest his termination, the investigative documents say. And Hernandez has done just that.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. • Award-Winning Journalism: Florida Press Club recognizes Headline Surfer for nine stories in 2020 statewide competition. • Award-Winning Journalism of Henry Frederick.