Manatee sheriff’s sergeant resigns, faces charges over throwing flash-bang grenade at party
Before walking into a coworker’s home on Dec. 12 for a Christmas party, Sgt. John Finley threw a flash-bang grenade — taken from the SWAT stockpile — to announce his arrival. Facing termination, the tenured Manatee County sheriff’s sergeant resigned on Feb. 13 and is facing criminal charges, according to an internal affairs report.
Finley, who joined the sheriff’s office in July 2002, has ignored several attempts by Professional Standards investigators to speak to him. The sheriff’s office concluded the criminal portion of its internal affairs investigation and the case was sent to the State Attorney’s Office with recommended charges to review and consider filing.
“The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Core Values state ‘…whether on duty or off duty, we will behave according to the highest set of ethical standards,’ and John Finley’s reported actions challenged these ethical standards.”
The internal affairs investigation concluded the administrative part of its investigation with a finding of unlawful conduct.
At the time of his resignation, Finley was also facing another internal affairs investigation stemming from an incident during the presidential inauguration in January.
On Feb. 8, the sheriff’s office received an email from Metro DC Police Chief Robert Contee sharing allegations of officer misconduct.
Security at Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel had alerted DC police that during the inauguration, camera footage captured an officer on a detail plastering stickers all over the hotel, and that the suspect was identified as a member of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Professional Standards investigators obtained the hotel’s security footage and interviewed other members of the detail, which confirmed Finley as the deputy identified by the hotel and by Metro DC Police, according to the internal affairs report.
The grainy images showed Finley placing the stickers inside the hotel. A thread of text messages in a group chat created solely for members of the detail also revealed other photos of stickers Finley placed.
Finley was among those chosen for the detail to assist with security during the inauguration and who were staying at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.
The stickers had an image of SWAT Team Commander Lt. Louis Licata and were found throughout the hotel and elsewhere including the overhead area of the bus , a urinal in a nearby casino, a picture hanging on the wall of a pizza place, on a subway directory, a turnstile at the airport and the belt of the luggage carousel at the airport. Hotel workers struggled to remove the 40 to 50 stickers found inside the hotel. It was time-consuming because of the adhesive, and some stickers damaged surfaces.
At least one deputy admitted that he found “the prank” funny at first. Many on the detail didn’t find humor with the stickers, and were embarrassed. Some members of the detail had tried removing the stickers when they found them but the adhesive wouldn’t come off.
“They were good stickers, taking them off was, was damn near impossible,” one deputy said. “ He added, “If the hotel said that they spent money trying to get those stickers up I wholeheartedly believe it and I believe that they probably had to pay someone a decent amount of money to spend some real time trying to get those stickers up cause that [expletive] wasn’t coming up for anything.”
That internal affairs investigation concluded with a finding of conduct unbecoming a deputy.
“Agency participation in a Presidential Inauguration is prestigious. The MCSO has successfully and honorably joined agencies from around the country in past ceremonies in order to supplement the security forces of the lead agency, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia,” that internal affairs report concluded. “The MCSO has nurtured a level of respect and esteem through years of exemplary collaborative service with agencies from around the nation, and Sergeant Finley’s actions obstruct that honor.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 3:47 PM.
