MANATEE -- A Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been suspended for 86 hours without pay after an inmate’s claims that he used derogatory racial language and misused his stun gun were sustained, according to an internal affairs investigation report obtained Friday by the Herald.
The accusations against Deputy Robert Casbarro stemmed from a May 30 incident in which an in- mate alleged Casbarro pointed his electronic weapon toward his back while in a common area of the Manatee County jail, the report stated.
A surveillance video of the incident shows Casbarro and four inmates, and at one point the inmate who filed the charges walks toward a main door with his back facing Casbarro and a seated inmate.
That’s when Casbarro is seen pointing the stun gun at the inmate, causing him to back against a wall, the report said.
A review of the tape showed no cause for the deputy to point his weapon at the inmate, the report said.
The complainant and other inmates also said Casbarro had used derogatory racial phrases and pointed his stun gun at them on several occasions.
Casbarro told investigators that he used the electronic weapon as a visual deterrent to gain compliance from the inmate who filed the complaint, because he fails to follow instructions, the report said.
The inmate admitted to investigators he was cleaning the area at the time of the incident and stepped over a red line on the floor that inmates can’t cross without permission, the report said.
He said he didn’t ask for permission to cross and did so to retrieve a spoon that was on the other side.
Casbarro told investigators that he had misused his weapon during the incident and also admitted to improperly displaying his weapon with other inmates and sheriff’s office employees.
In sworn testimony, Casbarro also admitted to making derogatory racial comments, but he said it was not done with malice or ill will, according to the report. He said he tried to keep his area as calm and “smooth going as possible within the guidelines of the jail.
“With my background as a custom installer for music I’ve been around people of all races and creeds my whole life. So I talk to them the way they talk to each other ... .”
He added that he doesn’t discriminate against any- one based on race and would never have “made a comment to actually downgrade someone’s race, religion or creed,” according to the report.
Other deputies interviewed during this investigation said they’d seen Casbarro point his electronic weapon at or near inmates and use derogatory racial language, the report stated. They described his behavior as playful in nature, yet unprofessional.
