(This story has been updated with new information.)
Edgewater Police officer Daniel Rippeon, whose bodycam shows him making a controversial arrest of a CVS worker shortly after the employee left work, resigned from the department, Human Resources Director Julie Christine confirmed June 6.
In a Facebook post the previous day, the Edgewater Police Department said Rippeon had been “separated as an employee,” a statement which some interpreted to mean that he was fired and others that he had resigned.
Rippeon arrested Paul Wert, 22, on May 10 while he was sitting on a bench outside a closed CVS on Ridgewood Avenue in Edgewater. Wert, who just finished his shift when the store closed six minutes previous, was waiting for a Lyft transport to take him to his Daytona Beach home.
Wert’s grandparents attended an Edgewater City Council meeting on June 3 to voice their frustration over the incident, saying their grandson was arrested for “wearing a hoodie” and not doing anything wrong.
Edgewater Mayor ‘upset’ with how Rippeon situation was handled
Edgewater Mayor Diezel DePew told The News-Journal in a June 6 interview that he was “sorry to see what occurred during that incident.”
“Personally, I’m upset with the way the incident was handled,” DePew said, adding the investigation is still ongoing. “I don’t believe that that reflects on every officer at the city of Edgewater.”
Rippeon was first put on administrative leave on June 4. The police department announced the following day that he had “separated” from the department.
The mayor emphasized that because Edgewater is structured under a city manager form of government, the City Council “has limited control over the police department, except for budgeting.”
“The City Council cannot hire or fire a police officer,” the mayor said. “I’m sure each and every councilmember is upset about how this went down, and it doesn’t reflect every officer in the city of Edgewater.”
He said he has “full confidence in the police department to investigate this, or have an outside agency investigate it.” That initiative, he said, would have to be initiated through the police department.
“A councilmember could bring that up for discussion if it’s a budget hearing,” DePew said. “But we, as a whole, do not have control over the police department. That would be the city manager.”
But Edgewater’s interim city manager is also its police chief
The City Council, also on June 3, voted to appoint Police Chief Joseph Mahoney as interim city manager, replacing Jeff Thurman, who was reassigned to his old post at the city’s Public Works Department.
Mahoney will fill the interim role as the city continues its search for a new city manager.
When asked if there could be any potential problems with a possible conflict of interest, DePew said, “I think Chief Mahoney is going to do his job to the best of his ability as interim city manager.”
Mahoney has been with the Edgewater Police Department for 23 years, serving as chief of police since 2018.
While Mahoney serves as interim city manager, Capt. Charles Geiger will serve as interim chief of police.
A call to the city manager’s office Friday afternoon was not immediately returned.
The City Council had already a special meeting planned for Friday, June 6, at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the ongoing city manager search process.
What happened in the arrest of Paul Wert by Officer Daniel Rippeon in Edgewater?
In the 9-minute, 13-second body cam video, Rippeon is seen pulling up to the CVS at 1806 S. Ridgewood Avenue in Edgewater. He starts questioning the young man, asking for identification. Wert tells the officer he had not broken any law, so Rippeon tells him he is detained.
When Wert gets up to walk toward the Lyft transport, Rippeon threatens him with a taser. When Wert stops and tries to explain that he had just gotten off work and that his manager had just left, Rippeon accuses him of behaving suspiciously in front of a closed business.
He handcuffs Wert, and when he tries to explain why he was there, the officer yells at him to stop moving and tells Paul Wert he has a police dog in the car that will bite him. He then walks him to the patrol car.
Rippeon is then heard on the bodycam video telling his sergeant that he believed Paul Wert worked at the CVS, but that he would not let him dictate to him.
“I do believe that he works here, but I mean he then tried to dictate to me that he was going to leave, so I am not playing that game,” Rippeon is heard telling his sergeant. “He is going to learn, unfortunately, the hard way.”
The News-Journal has contacted the Edgewater Police Department for comment multiple times since June 3, but none of the calls have been returned.
Edgewater police officials have promised to keep the public posted.
“We are committed to providing our community with full transparency. Our department operates with the highest standards of accountability, and we are dedicated to keeping the public informed as additional details become available,” the agency said June 4 on its Facebook page.
After posting that Rippeon had been “separated” from employment, the department suspended comments on the page. It hasn’t made any updates since June 5.
On June 3, a reporter asked to speak with younger Paul Wert, but the grandfather said his grandson is still shaken up by the experience.
“He’s still traumatized over this,” the grandfather said. “He knows, we all know, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Edgewater confirms police officer Daniel Rippeon not fired, he resigned; mayor weighs in
Reporting by Brenno Carillo and Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
