Fort Myers police officer fired for failing to disclose previous arrest

A Fort Myers Police officer was fired last week after an internal affairs investigation revealed the officer lied on his application about an arrest for theft by deception.

Officer Joshua Kuhl's neighbor told the department about Kuhl's 2004 arrest. The neighbor had accused Kuhl of retaliation for filing an internal affairs complaint against him.

Kuhl was then fired Dec. 7 for what Chief Derrick Diggs described as "contrary to the Code of Ethics, Department Policy, and our high standards."

Matt Sellers, president of the Gulf Coast PBA, representing FMPD officers, said the union would make an effort on Kuhl's behalf to reverse the decision.

"We filed a grievance on Dec. 8 in the case," Sellers said. "The PBA believes that the termination was not based on just cause."

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Internal affairs records obtained by the News-Press say that in August, John Caltagirone, an HOA board member of the Entrada neighborhood, filed a written complaint against Kuhl accusing him of harassing him while off duty and filing a false police report with Cape Coral Police Department.

The police report filed by Kuhl accused Caltagirone of harassment, threatening and intimidation, but the reporting officer determined that no crime was committed.

It was only after Caltagirone received the police report that he found out that Kuhl was a Fort Myers officer, internal affairs records show. He also told the department's internal affairs officers that through his own research, he discovered that Kuhl had been arrested for theft by deception in 2004.

An alleged leak

Hours after he left the internal affairs office, Caltagirone saw that Kuhl's girlfriend posted a video on Facebook showing him walking out of the FMPD station, saying that he had just filed a complaint against Kuhl.

Caltagirone told the News-Press that he was shocked by the Facebook post.

"I was surprised and had a lot of concerns about a possible physical threat," he said. "A few people called me up and they were very concerned for my safety knowing that I was followed to the Fort Myers police department and took a video of me filing the complaint, and I did not know how he knew I was filing that report."

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According to the internal affairs records, Caltagirone called Maj. William Newhouse about an alleged leak in the department, and Newhouse said he would look into it.

During the investigation, Kuhl told investigators that while he was on duty he noticed a call for a request for a supervisor, and "being nosy, he looked at the notes of the call," which contained Caltagirone's name and referenced Kuhl and his badge number.

Kuhl then posted on his Entrada community Facebook that Caltagirone was at his work to complain because "he knew this day was coming" and that Caltagirone filing a complaint against him with his employer was "inevitable".

Phone calls

The responding supervisor, Sgt. Jose Gomez, told internal affairs investigators that Kuhl then called him to tell him "that Caltagirone was from his homeowner's association and had a history of filing complaints with peoples' employers in an attempt to get them fired."

After Gomez took the complaint, Kuhl called him a second time seeking more details about the claims, records show. Gomez told investigators that he told Kuhl "not to worry" about it.

Investigators asked Kuhl about the Facebook post made by his girlfriend which shared a video of Caltagirone leaving the police station, and inquired how it was obtained.

Kuhl denied recording the video or asking anyone else to record it. Kuhl's girlfriend told investigators that Kuhl sent her the video, but did not know she was going to post it on social media.

A higher standard

Caltagirone told the News-Press he felt a sense of relief when he learned Kuhl was off the force.

"Officers are set to a higher standard. So his behavior and attempts to intimidate me were shocking." Caltagirone said. "Now I feel safer. In the world we live in now, we cannot have police officers acting the way he does."

The internal affairs allegations related to the video and the Facebook post were not sustained by Chief Diggs, but the claim that Kuhl failed to disclose a previous arrest for theft on his job application was sustained, leading to Kuhl's firing.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers police officer Joshua Kuhl was fired after internal affairs investigation