Daytona Beach, FL - The Volusia Sheriff's Office has filed a charging affidavit against a woman who falsely accused a deputy, according to emails from her husband, of groping his wife after she went through the metal detector at a Deltona City Commission meeting.
Sheriff Chitwood issued the following statement today, regarding the filing of a charging affidavit with the State Attorney’s Office in the case of a false allegation recently made against a sheriff’s deputy:
Today, the Sheriff’s Office filed an affidavit with the State Attorney’s Office charging Tammy Stuck with one count of making a false official statement in her recent baseless allegation against a deputy.
In my opinion, the clear falsehood at the heart of Mrs. Stuck’s sworn citizen’s complaint was blatant enough that the Sheriff’s Office was more than justified in submitting a charging affidavit for review.
It will be up to the State Attorney’s Office to determine the next steps.
I hope this episode will serve as a wake-up call to those on the Deltona City Commission who were so willing to condemn a deputy’s actions without the facts.
The Sheriff’s Office was aware of this complaint weeks ago, when the first of several emails arrived, containing a multitude of allegations we soon found out were completely unsubstantiated.
The emails claimed the deputy “groped my wife tonight at a meeting at Deltona City Hall,” called him a “degenerate pervert” and alleged what the deputy did was “Assault a Disabled Person without any provocation.”
Our office then received a public records request for information on the deputy’s disciplinary history dating back to his hire in 1990.
The complaint we received this week, the same night of the Stucks’ dramatic appearance before the City Commission, claimed:
“This Deputy is obviously overzealous and feels that he is Superior to the rest of us. He had no Right to put his hands on me in the manner that he did and it makes me wonder how many other women he may have abused who were too afraid to come forward.”
A blatant lie and a disgusting attempt to ruin a deputy’s career.
It was disappointing to see the Deltona City Commission fall over themselves apologizing to the Stucks.
Deltona Mayor Heidi Herzberg has sincerely apologized for that mistake. She’s a class act for doing so.
Any others still defending the liars who tried and failed to ruin a deputy’s career are doing a disservice to their community, and sending a clear message of disrespect to all of us in law enforcement who hold ourselves to the highest standard.
-Sheriff Mike Chitwood
