CRESTVIEW — Police Chief Tony Taylor on Thursday fired Sgt. Matthew Purvines and K-9 officer Zachary Faircloth for falsifying police reports.
The terminations came the same day Timothy White, a former Crestview police officer, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of tampering with evidence.
White was ordered to serve two years’ probation and turn in his Florida law enforcement certification.
Purvines, Faircloth and White — who already had been fired — were key figures in the prosecution of former Street Crimes Unit commander Maj. Joseph Floyd, who was found guilty in late August of racketeering.
But Taylor said the testimony from Purvines and Faircloth that they had lied on official police documents under orders from Floyd left him no choice but to investigate possible “moral character violations.”
Read a letter from Chief Taylor on the firings. >>
He said he personally conducted investigations of both men, which included looking at trial transcripts. He said he recommended to Crestview Mayor David Cadle on Tuesday that they be fired and that Cadle agreed.
Purvines and Faircloth were each given an opportunity to contest the firings. Neither man chose to resign and the terminations were made official Thursday, Taylor said.
“I had to give each officer due process. If I hadn’t, nothing would have changed,” Taylor said. “Instead of going forward from where we were, we’d be staying the same or going backward.”
Adjudication of guilt was withheld in White’s court case, which was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney John Molchan.
The order that White surrender his Criminal Justice Standards and Training Certification means he will never work again in Florida as a sworn law officer, said Gretl Plessinger, spokeswoman for Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
White was fired in June 2012 when a Police Department internal investigation determined he had stolen marijuana out of an evidence locker to bolster a search warrant application. He was arrested the following October.
In a letter he wrote confessing to the crime, White said Purvines told him to remove the marijuana. Purvines reported directly to Floyd.
Corruption within the Police Department and crimes committed by Floyd culminated with Floyd’s indictment in March 2012.
The indictment accused him of physically battering civilians and emotionally battering or harassing fellow officers, sexual harassment, lying on his job application, misusing city resources and falsifying or altering official documents.
He was convicted Aug. 22 following a two-week trial during which numerous current and former police officers, city officials and residents testified. Floyd faces between 34 months and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 2.
Former Police Chief Brian Mitchell hired Floyd. He was fired shortly after Floyd was indicted.
The officers who testified against Floyd said they could not complain about him to Mitchell because they had worked together at the Havana Police Department and were best friends.
Mitchell was arrested in July and charged with official misconduct for allegedly falsifying or causing to be falsified documents to get Floyd hired in Crestview despite a poor employment record.
Mitchell is scheduled to be tried Oct. 21.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.