Daytona Beach Shores lieutenant who put son in jail as a potty-training lesson resigns

Daytona Beach Shores police Lt. Michael Schoenbrod, who faced investigations after locking his 3½-year-old son in a city jail cell last October as a potty-training lesson, has resigned, The News-Journal has learned.

Schoenbrod has been on paid administrative leave since July 3 while under investigation for other possible violations of city policy.

Schoenbrod and the child's mother, Sgt. Jessica Long, were previously found to have violated a policy in connection with the jailing of the boy: conduct "which has the tendency to destroy public respect for the employee and/or the department and/or confidence in the operation of the municipal service."

Although a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigator recommended child abuse charges against the parents, the State Attorney's Office declined to pursue a case, finding there was "no impending danger" to the boy.

Professional standards probe

After the state and city probes into the jail/potty training matter had concluded, on April 7, Schoenbrod addressed a day shift briefing in which he called people who initially reported the potty-training jailings to the Department of Children and Families as "liars" and "disgusting human beings," according to an internal affairs report.

Four days later, crime analyst Kelley Register complained to Michael Fowler, director of the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety.

"Lt. Schoenbrod insinuated to the shift that members of the Criminal Investigations Division were to blame for this investigation," Register wrote, later adding that the terms "liars" and "disgusting human beings" are offensive and a violation of policy.

Register told the city's professional standards investigator, Sgt. Bill Frank, that she was not present during the briefing but was told about it by two others who were.

"I don't know where he got his information that I'm a liar, but I'm not," Register told Frank. "And I'm also not a disgusting human being."

She called the statements false and derogatory.

Several of the officers who attended the briefing told Frank that Schoenbrod had spoken with them to address rumors about his prior professional standards case. They heard Schoenbrod use terms including "liars" and "disgusting," but that they were not applied to any individuals, the summary states.

Det. Daniel Carrazana told Frank he had never been put in a more uncomfortable situation than the briefing. He said he inferred that when Schoenbrod spoke of "disgusting human beings," it was about the investigative unit to which he belonged.

"That uncomfortableness drove him to resign from this agency," Frank wrote.

Schoenbrod told Frank he had been asked by Fowler to speak to each shift to address rumors about the previous investigation, and that "it was obvious to him that the people who initially reported (the jail/potty training) event to DCF had no concern for the wellbeing of their child and that their motivation was to destroy both his and Sgt. Long's reputation and the reputation of the agency."

Schoenbroad agreed he used the terms "liars" and "disgusting human beings," but maintained that he never specifically referenced any specific individuals or divisions.

Of seven potential policy violations considered, Schoenbrod was found to have committed two: failing to "treat superior officers, subordinates and associates with respect," and engaging in conduct "which adversely affects the morale or efficiency of the department."

Allegation: Tampering with a public record

Fowler ordered a third professional standards case at the start of July, and asked Lt. Thomas Aiken of the Port Orange Police Department to conduct it.

Following the April 7 briefing, Carrazana immediately met with Schoenbrod privately in an effort to "clear the air." Schoenbrod recorded the meeting with Carrazana's permission, according to an investigative summary.

"Lt. Schoenbrod stated he made the recording for his own use, as protection in case (Carrazana) later made an accusation of inappropriate conduct during their conversation," the summary states.

Sometime later, Carrazana left the Daytona Beach Shores department for a new job as a New Smyrna Beach police officer. On June 29, Carrazana made a public records request for the audio Schoenbrod had made of their meeting.

More: 'Nothing worked' Shores officers speak out about why they used jail to potty-train son

Fowler told Schoenbrod to produce the record, and on July 3, Schoenbrod told Fowler he had deleted portions of the audio that had referred to his son, the summary states.

City Attorney Becky Vose reviewed what remained of the audio recording and told Fowler it was 100% a public record.

Vose shared her opinion that Schoenbrod's editing of the recording violates a Florida felony statute, official misconduct, as he altered it in order to protect and benefit his son.

In addition to starting a professional standards case, Fowler contacted FDLE and requested a criminal investigation, and Special Agent Scott Ratliff arrived at the Daytona Beach Shores public safety office to collect Schoenbrod's department-issued cell phone.

Further investigation found that Schoenbrod had replaced two sections of the audio totaling more than 8 minutes with static, the summary states.

However, the recording Schoenbrod turned over did include two mentions of his son by name, which he later told investigators was an oversight.

Schoenbrod and his attorney, Michael Lambert, met with Aiken, the Port Orange investigator, on Sept. 19.

Schoenbrod told Aiken he considered the recording a personal belonging, not a public record.

"The majority of the conversation was not work-related," Schoenbrod said, according to the summary.

Also, Schoenbrod told the investigator that he had never before requested permission to edit a file.

"Lt. Schoenbrod stated 'it's our standard operating procedure that we are authorized with implied consent of our chief, our previous chief that we just ... if we need to redact something, we do it,'" the summary states.

Aiken was asked to look into whether Schoenbrod violated any of these city policies with regard to his handling of the audio file:

• "Employees shall not commit any act or crime defined by state or federal law as a felony, whether chargeable or not."

• "Employees shall not ... alter or forge or tamper with any kind of public safety record, report or citation."

• And under a department policy related to digital recording devices, Schoenbrod was alleged to have edited, altered, or erased recordings without prior written authorization.

The summary written by Aiken did not state any final conclusions on whether those allegations against Schoenbrod were sustained or not.

But after the second and third professional standards investigations were concluded on Friday, Schoenbrod resigned, according to Tammy Marzik, the city's public information officer.

Schoenbrod worked for the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety for more than 23 years.

In his two-paragraph resignation letter, dated Monday, Schoenbrod said he was giving two weeks' notice, making his departure date Oct. 16.

"Per the DBS policy manual, I must provide a reason for resigning," Schoenbrod wrote. "My reason is that I no longer want to work for the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety."

This story has been updated to add additional detail.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach Shores Lt. Michael Schoenbrod resigns after findings