(Editor’s note: This story was updated with new video and new information.)
A Volusia Sheriff’s Office sergeant is facing felony charges after he battered a couple in their 70s while he was off-duty and intoxicated at a New Smyrna Beach bar on July 6, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
Jason Stickels, 44, was arrested by New Smyrna Beach Police after officers responded to a call about a fight about 4:20 p.m. at Merk’s Bar & Grill, the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page.
“Stickels instigated and created unwanted contact with a couple seated near the bar,” witnesses said, according to the post.
Stickels battered a 71-year-old woman who was seated at a table in the bar, according to the sheriff’s office, which attributed the account to witnesses and video of the incident. When her 77-year-old husband intervened, Stickels battered him, the sheriff’s office stated.
A witness quickly subdued Stickels, taking him to the ground. No injuries were reported, according to the sheriff’s office.
Volusia Sheriff’s Office sergeant facing 2 felony charges
Stickels was charged with two counts of felony battery on a person 65 or older, the sheriff’s office stated.
Stickels, who has been with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office since 2004, was placed on administrative leave and he turned in his law enforcement equipment pending his final discipline which ranges up to termination.
In a post on social media, Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood offered to buy lunch for the couple Stickels is accused of battering.
“How to throw away your law enforcement career in 2 minutes. Off duty, stumbling drunk, harassing people who are just trying to enjoy their afternoon,” Chitwood posted. “I apologize for this soon-to-be former Volusia Sheriff’s Office sergeant’s idiotic behavior today. He is locked up tonight. To the couple involved, please let me buy your next lunch at Merk’s. I would also like to invite the good citizen who stepped in and refused to be a bystander. Nice takedown.”
Stickels was released from the county jail July 6 at around 9:30 p.m. on $10,000 bond.
Stickels previously served unpaid suspension
This isn’t the first time Stickels has been in trouble.
In 2016, he accused a a postal worker of stealing his cellphone, costing local taxpayers an $80,000 settlement for the man’s wrongful arrest.
In 2018, he served a 15-day unpaid suspension for ignoring an order from his superiors to stop pursuing a carjacking suspect who rammed the patrol car, damaging it, an Internal Affairs investigation said.
Stickels, who was 37 at the time, told his lieutenant, who asked him to discontinue the chase, that he had “a bone to pick” with the suspect.
— Frank Fernandez covers courts and criminal justice in Volusia and Flagler counties for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: ‘Drunk’ Volusia sergeant facing felonies was previously disciplined
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
