SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) _ A southwest Florida police officer has been suspended after his superiors watched a video of him tossing food to a handcuffed suspect at the county jail and then allowing the man to eat the food off the floor.
The Sarasota Police Department announced in a news release Monday that Officer Andrew Halpin has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the completion of the internal affairs investigation. Chief Bernadette DiPino said in the release that she was disappointed in what she saw in the video.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that the intoxicated homeless man had been arrested on a trespassing charge July 18. The video first shows Halpin tossing food at the suspect’s mouth. Several moments later, the apparently drunk and handcuffed man slumps onto the floor to retrieve the dropped food, with Halpin pushing it toward the suspect with his foot.
