ORLANDO, Fla — 9-Investigates has learned that Mount Dora Police are now investigating how its officers handled a drunk driving investigation involving a Maitland Police officer.
In the body camera videos we obtained and first showed you on Tuesday, you can hear Mount Dora Officer Brandon Buzard stating just before the field sobriety exercise, “I don’t have a line, really. You’re going to put your left foot on the line and put your right foot in front of it,” Officer Buzard state, while reading a script on a small card.
It’s clear Officer Buzard wasn’t quite sure how to conduct the field sobriety exercises required to help get a D-U-I conviction. ”I’m sorry man, I’m going to mess this up. This is the first time doing these,” Buzard states to Maitland Officer Joshua Rotarius who had been out drinking around the county in the hours before he crashed into a car parked at a stop light, according to the report.
The Mount Dora officer wrote in the crash report, “to be noted, I could smell the impurities of Alcohol emitting from his person and breath. Joshus also had red glossy eyes and was leaning on his vehicle.” Initially, Officer Rotarius didn’t want to go through a field sobriety exercise, according to the report. And he told the Mount Dora officers that the driver in front of him suddenly slammed on the brakes, and Rotarius accused the other driver of trying to scam him, claiming the damage spotted on the back of his car was pre-existing. “It’s your opportunity to show that you’re not drunk, why would you not do them,” a Mount Dora officer asked Rotarius. And then, according to the report, Rotarius made a call to a Lake County Deputy and a Maitland Lieutenant, both told him the decision to do the field sobriety exercise was his alone, which he finally agreed to.
When he blew his blood alcohol level was between 3-4 times more than the legal limit. Some of what played out here wasn’t recorded because the Mount Dora officers repeatedly turned off their body cameras. In a statement to 9-Investigates the Chief told us:
“Upon reviewing the body-worn camera footage, the Mount Dora Police Department determined that the arresting officer deactivated his camera at several points during the incident. This action does not comply with MDPD’s body-worn camera policy, and as a result, the department will be initiating an internal investigation regarding the officer’s conduct. The review also identified training gaps related to DUI investigative procedures. In response, MDPD will be implementing agency-wide refresher training to ensure consistency and adherence to established DUI investigation standards.”
All of it, may lead to prosecutors dismissing the case, even though the Maitland officer said this during an internal affairs interview with Maitland PD. “Do you remember how much you had to drink,” the Maitland Internal Affairs officer asked Officer Rotarius. “Eight to probably eleven drinks total,” Officer Rotarius stated. “When you decided to get into your car to initiate that drive home, with all the other options available, what led you to decide that,” the investigators asked. “I don’t remember getting into my car or truck, unfortunately,” Rotarius said.
The internal affairs report recently completed and released to 9-Investigates shows he was suspended 100 hours, placed on a year of probation, removed from specialty assignments and required to attend substance abuse treatment because of what the Maitland Police Chief and the internal affairs investigator saw in the video.
A spokesperson for Maitland Police told us the officer’s discipline is consistent with department policies. The officer’s attorney told us they’re fighting this case because of how the investigation was handled and Officer Rotarius has pleaded not guilty, though in an internal affairs audio-recorded interview he admits to consuming up to 11 drinks while barhopping in Mount Dora and Tavares that night. “That week my dad was in the hospital, or in and out of the hospital a bunch and they couldn’t really figure out what was going on. There’s also a couple of positions that I was trying to go for and one I’ve been trying for a few years that I didn’t get. And I don’t know, it seemed like everything was kinda going downhill,” Officer Rotarius said. He also mentioned that he’s still dealing with PTSD from what he experienced when he responded to the Pulse Nightclub shooting back in 2016. “I have some pre- existing PTSD from an incident at our department. Which I was in counseling for before, and I thought I was finally good and then everything kinda built up and kinda sent me down a spiral,” Officer Rotarius said.
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