New Bradenton police officer gets second chance after he was fired from Tampa police for drunken driving crash

The Bradenton Police Department is giving a former Tampa police officer a second chance three years after he was fired when officials found he drove drunk and crashed. He was fired, even though prosecutors declined to file DUI charges against him.

Gregory Pryor was sworn in as a Bradenton police officer on Thursday by Bradenton Mayor and Police Commissioner Wayne Poston. For the past eight months, Pryor has worked as a Bradenton dispatcher under supervision.

On Jan. 9, 2014, Pryor was officially dismissed from the Tampa Police Department after an internal affairs investigation concluded he had driven his personal car while drunk, reaching speeds of more than 100 mph before crashing into the back of a semitrailer.

He also lied to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies about being the driver and attempted to use his badge to receive special treatment, according to a Tampa police internal affairs report.

The Bradenton Police Department is aware of why he was terminated and confident it was an isolated incident from which he learned his lesson.

“My understanding, it was a DUI and he was untruthful, and when you are untruthful as a police officer, that’s it, you’re done,” Poston said. “He understands that this is a second chance for him.”

Poston said he has no concerns about Pryor’s ability to be truthful.

Police Chief Melanie Bevan said she reached out to members of the Tampa Police Department during her own investigation of Pryor, in addition to reading the entire internal affairs investigation.

“I don’t think Tampa made a mistake, they did what they needed to at the time,” Bevan said. “I know he made a mistake four years ago, but I think he’s paid for that mistake.”

The Bradenton Herald requested Bradenton officials pass a message to Pryor requesting comment. As of late Friday, he had not responded.

Bevan first met Pryor during her tenure at the St. Petersburg Police Department, where he was one of 12 officers chosen to be part a new unit she had been tasked with creating.

“During the time he served under me, he was an exceptional officer,” Bevan said.

But when he first approached Bevan a for a second opportunity shortly after she took over the Bradenton department last year, Bevan said she told him it was not the time but to follow up at a later date. Determined, he approached her again.

“If I was going to give him a second opportunity, he would have to prove himself,” the chief recalled. “So I started him in a civilian position.”

Both Poston and Bevan agree he has proved to be a hard worker during the past eight months as a dispatcher.

Pryor was also subjected to extensive questioning during a polygraph examination, which found he was being truthful, Bevan and Poston said.

Pryor, an Air Force veteran, began working for the Tampa Police Department on May 21, 2007. Before that he worked for the St. Petersburg Police Department from June 9, 2003, until he left voluntarily left on May 18, 2007.

During his time at the Tampa Police Department, he was also involved in two officer-involved shootings. Internal affairs investigations found both shootings to be justified, according to spokesman Stephen Hegarty. At the St. Petersburg Police Department, he was disciplined after he began to pursue a vehicle that fled a traffic stop, breaking departmental policy, and as a result of a minor crash involving a parked car.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Pryor’s police officer certification is in good standing and he has no record of disciplinary cases with FDLE.

It was about 2 a.m. Dec. 28, 2012, when Pryor was involved in the crash with a semitrailer on Interstate 75 in Hillsborough County, just north of the Manatee County line, according to the internal affairs report. Pryor flashed his badge immediately to deputies and told them he had not been driving and that the driver had been a man named “Jacob” he had just met at a bar.

A witness told deputies that Pryor had sped past her in his personal Chevrolet Avalanche, and that she had not seen anyone else in the car. The vehicle’s crash data recorder confirmed he was driving in excess of 100 mph and that there had not been a passenger.

Deputies said Pryor became belligerent at the crash scene, saying he expected “professional courtesy” and “so much for the brotherhood,” according to the report. Despite giving him opportunities to tell the deputies what really happened, Pryor maintained he was not the driver.

During a later interview during his internal affairs investigation, Pryor denied any memory of the incident but acknowledged being the driver, the report states. Deputies reported Pryor was coherent enough to call his wife to pick him up from the scene, call a tow truck, speak to an OnStar representative and remember to grab his gun from the trunk.

Investigators concluded Pryor had been impaired and had not been truthful when he denied any memory of the events.

As a result of the crash, the State Attorney’s Office did not file DUI charges but Pryor was charged with providing false information to law enforcement and obstructing a law enforcement officer without violence. Both misdemeanors were later dismissed after he completed a diversion program.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "New Bradenton police officer gets second chance after he was fired from Tampa police for drunken driving crash."