Jefferson police officer fired
Jefferson Police Department officer Stephen Taylor, who got into a bar fight while off duty, was fired Thursday following an internal investigation. He was charged earlier with one count of misdemeanor battery in connection with the incident.
Taylor had been on administrative leave without pay after being involved in an altercation at Mike’s Down Under bar. Taylor and James Tyler Beck, 22, reportedly got into a shoving contest at the bar around midnight on Aug. 24 over comments about the color of Taylor’s shirt.
In Beck’s version of events to JPD officers who responded to the incident, he said he had made a comment to a third party in the bar about Taylor’s pink shirt. The comment was not made in Taylor’s presence, he said, but someone told Taylor about it.
Beck said he stood up to leave the bar when Taylor confronted him about the pink shirt comments. Beck said he put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder and told him he didn’t want any problems, but that Taylor responded by pushing him in the chest and then hitting him with a closed fist on the left side of the face.
Taylor told officers that Beck had pushed him and that he acted in self-defense. He said the incident had stemmed from a verbal altercation he blamed on Beck, saying Beck was upset over a woman who was "hanging out" with him.
A blood alcohol test of both men taken by the JPD reportedly showed Taylor at .183 while Beck was .00.
In Beck’s version of events to JPD officers who responded to the incident, he said he had made a comment to a third party in the bar about Taylor’s pink shirt. The comment was not made in Taylor’s presence, he said, but someone told Taylor about it.
Beck said he stood up to leave the bar when Taylor confronted him about the pink shirt comments. Beck said he put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder and told him he didn’t want any problems, but that Taylor responded by pushing him in the chest and then hitting him with a closed fist on the left side of the face.
Taylor told officers that Beck had pushed him and that he acted in self-defense. He said the incident had stemmed from a verbal altercation he blamed on Beck, saying Beck was upset over a woman who was "hanging out" with him.
A blood alcohol test of both men taken by the JPD reportedly showed Taylor at .183 while Beck was .00.
Defined tags for this entry: Crime
A Law Enforcement Officer can be off duty, but they are NEVER out of sight. I've tried to stress that point in some of my earlier post. That just can't be stressed enough..... it goes with the territory!
Jefferson is better off cleaning up the crap that is on the taxpayer payroll. Thanks to Chief Wirthman for holding his people to the standards expected by the taxpayer. Now if that can just be done within the DC beltway....
Oh well JPD did lose a good officer/person, hopefully moving on for all Stephen will see a lesson learned here and find better!
Hopefully Stephen will learn a lesson....but I think the Jefferson Dept. can find BETTER!!!
Second all I was making the point that what Stephen did was inappropriate, and I hope for his sake it opens his eyes and he learns from it. My point was that you didn't get is, hiring police officers to serve the citizen of Jefferson knowing in advance that have committed crimes is worse when the Chief knew it! Now do you want someone protecting you or your family that has committed the crime of domestic violence? That's all I was saying, sorry you didn't get it!
I was sorry to hear of this. A lot of people get a second chance. You served Jefferson well.
Let the one who has never made a mistake reply to this.