Judge drops charges against former cop
Staff Report
Criminal charges have been dismissed against a former Groveland police officer charged with aggravated assault in an incident which led to Andrew Lee Scott being shot to death by Lake County sheriff's deputies.
Jonathan Brown, 31, initially was charged with attempted murder because of his alleged involvement in a fight on July 15 in Leesburg with Justin Jackson, 24. Police reports said Jackson was fighting with Anthony Michael Rodriguez, 25, and on the ground when witnesses claimed Brown picked up a cinder block as if to drop it on Jack-son's head.
In a deposition, Jackson said Brown was not involved in the fight, defense attorney Laura Hargrove said. She filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Brown and this was granted a day later by Judge Mark Nacke.
Earlier, the State Attorney's Office had reduced the charges against Brown to assault, and this is what Nacke dismissed.
Rodriguez, who left the fight scene in his pickup, was later stopped by Leesburg police, who found a handgun on the front seat. Dispatchers told Lake County sheriff's deputies, who had chased Brown's fleeing motorcycle, that he was not only a law enforcement officer, but that he might be armed.
Deputies later tracked down Brown's motorcycle at the Blueberry Hills II apartment complex. After they knocked without identifying themselves on the nearest door at Apt. 114, deputies shot Scott -- a 26-year-old pizza delivery driver -- when he responded with a gun in his hand.
Brown, who worked for the Groveland Police Department from Sept. 2, 2009, to Aug. 23, 2010, lived at Apt. 124, where he was later arrested without incident.
The deputies were cleared of any wrongdoing by the State Attorney's Office, but Scott's family and fiancé claim he was wrongfully killed, and have hired an attorney.
Friday, November 30, 2012 - www.dailycommercial.com/30nov2012judg