Officer Antonio Rotger Facing Domestic Violence Charges

A Boston cop busted in Florida for allegedly choking his wife in a booze-fueled Fourth of July argument has been placed on administrative leave and is facing domestic violence charges.

Antonio Rotger, 54, was sitting in the back of a car driven by his wife, with his 21-year-old stepdaughter in the front passenger seat, when he reached one hand around her neck and with his other hand tried to pull the keys out of the ignition as they entered an Orlando-area resort at about 4:30 p.m., according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office report.

In a statement given to authorities three hours after the alleged attack, Rotger’s wife of six months said she had to bite her husband’s arm to get him to release the chokehold. After she put the car in park, her daughter grabbed the keys and alerted security at the resort, the report said.

His wife told authorities she would not press charges or testify in court. But her daughter said she would testify.

Rotger reeked of alcohol and had glassy eyes and slurred speech at the time of his arrest, according to the police report.

Rotger alleged that his wife had been drinking prior to the argument and denied choking her but said he may have shoved her in the head, the report states.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on a domestic violence charge Aug. 6 in Ocoee, just outside Orlando.

Rotger did not return a message, and attempts to reach his lawyer were unsuccessful. Police union officials could not be reached yesterday.

Orange County cops contacted Boston Police after Rotger’s arrest and he was immediately placed on paid administrative leave, said spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

“He will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of a Boston police internal affairs investigation,” she said.

She said Rotger has a clean disciplinary record, although he has been the subject of internal affairs investigations before. Driscoll would not say for what.

In January, a review found that Boston police did not fire any of the 11 officers disciplined in the past two years for punching their spouses, striking their children or other violent incidents.

Since then, three more officers have been arrested on domestic violence-related charges and placed on administrative leave, Driscoll said.

Veteran Officer Accused of Falsifing her Timecard

WASHINGTON

D.C. police are investigating whether a department firearms experts repeatedly falsified her timecards to get at least $100,000 in unearned pay.

Officials say that since at least 2005 the 23-year veteran officer recorded overtime on her timecard that she did not work and forged a supervisor's signature.

Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham says the officer, whose name was not released, is on desk duty pending the results of the investigation and her police powers have been revoked.

Newsham says the U.S. attorney's office will determine whether to charge her with a crime.

Lt Major Garvin Wants Free Coffee or He Won't Do His Job

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

A police lieutenant in Daytona Beach was fired over accusations that he threatened slower emergency response times if he was not given complimentary specialty Starbucks coffee drinks.

An internal police investigation found that Daytona Lt. Major Garvin received free coffee for about two years from a city Starbucks coffee store.

However, when recently denied free coffee from new management, Garvin allegedly told managers that he could change the police department's response time if they refuse to give him complimentary drinks.

Garvin is accused of saying, "If something happens, either we can respond really fast or we could respond really slow. I've been coming here for years and I've been getting whatever I want. I'm the difference between you getting a two-minute response time, if you needed a little help, or a 15 minutes response time."

However, when confronted about the comments, police said Garvin agreed to take a polygraph test.

When asked whether or not he threatened managers with adverse response times, Garvin responded, "no."

But polygraph test results suggested that the officer was lying. Officer Garvin was then fired.

Starbucks employees said Officer Garvin visited the Starbucks store six times a day during his shifts and intimidated some workers during visits.

"I want somebody protecting my streets who is honest and trustworthy," Starbucks customer Adam Cuddy said. "So, if he is going to fail a polygraph, whether it is about coffee or anything, I don't know how comfortable I feel as a citizen being protected."

The investigation also revealed that Garvin requested the complimentary coffee even when he was not on duty.

Garvin was hired by the department in 1993.