LONGWOOD, Fla. — A Longwood Police officer who resigned in the middle of an internal investigation had been in trouble with the department at least once before.
Channel 9 first reported Corporal Virgel Quintal was accused of possible misconduct related to his actions on May 27th, during a 911 call involving a 17-year-old.
That 17-year-old’s mother told Channel 9 a confrontation between her son and Quintal turned physical, though the teen didn’t sustain any bruises or injuries.
Longwood Police told Channel 9 they couldn’t provide specifics on alleged policy violations stemming from that incident, because the investigation was ongoing.
On Thursday, Channel 9 obtained Quintal’s personnel files showing he was also under investigation for different violations one year ago.
A disciplinary letter shows Quintal was reprimanded after an incident in July 2024.
The discipline letter states, after a traffic stop on July 10, 2024 Quintal inappropriately started chasing a suspect and didn’t stop when a supervisor told him too.
Longwood Police Chief David Dowda wrote in the letter, “A vehicle pursuit in this situation was not appropriate and most certainly violated the pursuit criteria…your actions could have resulted in serious injuries, property damage, and liability for you and the department.”
The documents show Quintal was suspended for two days without pay and had to complete additional training after that incident.
The same personnel files also include multiple letters recognizing Quintal’s work since he joined the department in 2018, including working with his canine to track down 6 runaway teens, administering Narcan and CPR to save a man mid-overdose, and stopping active shoplifting at a Publix last month.
Channel 9 reached out to Longwood Police Chief David Dowda and Deputy Police Chief Michael Aprile Thursday. They had no comment regarding the prior discipline case.
Aprile previously told Channel 9 the department was committed to transparency and would release body camera video related to the incident at the center of Quintal’s resignation after the investigation was complete.A disciplinary letter shows Quintal was reprimanded after an incident in July 2024.
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