[FL] Remembering Tarpon Springs Police Officer Michelle Hayward

TARPON SPRINGS POLICE OFFICER MICHELLE HAYWARD'S SAID-SUICIDE & HOW HER PRIOR INCIDENT OF KNOWN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INVOLVING HER BOYFRIEND, TARPON SPRINGS POLICE SGT. JOHN SPATZ, WAS HANDLED.


ON 2/10/05, TARPON SPRINGS POLICE OFFICER MICHELLE HAYWARD REPORTED THAT HER EX-BOYFRIEND, TARPON SPRINGS POLICE SGT JOHN SPATZ PUNCHED HER IN THE STOMACH WHEN HE CAME TO PICK UP HIS CLOTHES, "BUT THE ONLY SIGN OF INJURY DEPUTIES AT THE SCENE NOTED WAS A SCRAPE ON HAYWARD'S ARM.". NO ARRESTS WERE MADE... BOTH WERE PUT ON PAID LEAVE FOR ABOUT 10 DAYS THEN REINSTATED BEFORE THE PROSECUTOR'S INQUIRY WAS COMPLLETED.

ON 3/6/05 MICHELLE WAS FOUND DEAD "WITH A SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND, SHERIFF'S SGT. TIM GOODMAN SAID"... NEWS OF HAYWARD'S DEATH COMES ABOUT A MONTH AFTER THE PINELLAS-PASCO STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE LAUNCHED AN INQUIRY INTO AN INCIDENT INVOLVING HAYWARD AND SPATZ AFTER A LOVERS' QUARREL GOT PHYSICAL... STATE ATTORNEY BERNIE MCCABE SAID HIS OFFICE DID NOT FILE CHARGES AGAINST EITHER OFFICER AND CLOSED ITS INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCIDENT...

State will review officers' quarrel: The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office's inquiry focuses on whether an argument between two police officers turned violent.
St. Petersburg Times
By Candace Rondeaux
February 25, 2005
[Excerpts] The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office has launched an inquiry into an incident involving two Tarpon Springs police officers after a lovers' quarrel between the two allegedly got physical earlier this month. The trouble started a little before 9:45 a.m. on Feb. 10 when Tarpon Springs police Officer John Spatz arrived at Officer Michelle Hayward's apartment in Palm Harbor to pick up clothes he had left there, authorities said. The couple had recently broken up and tempers were running high when Spatz and Hayward began arguing loudly about the clothes in the parking lot of the apartment complex... Hayward told a deputy who responded to the neighbor's call that Spatz punched her in the stomach, but the only sign of injury deputies at the scene noted was a scrape on Hayward's arm... Neither officer was arrested, but the Sheriff's Office referred charges of misdemeanor battery against both Hayward and Spatz to the State Attorney's office the same day. State Attorney Bernie McCabe said Thursday his inquiry into the incident is ongoing. Tarpon Springs police Sgt. Jeff Young said the police department was aware of the State Attorney's inquiry but declined to comment on the details of the case. Young said Tarpon Springs police Chief Mark LeCouris is likely to ask for an internal affairs investigation into the incident once the State Attorney's investigation is complete. Hayward and Spatz were placed on administrative leave with pay effective Feb.10 after the incident occurred, records show. They were reinstated to full duty Wednesday... McCabe said he expects to complete his inquiry in about a week...

Officer found shot to death: Deputies say they found the woman in her Palm Harbor apartment with a self-inflicted wound. She had been with the Tarpon Springs Police Department since July 2003.
St. Petersburg Times
By Candace Rondeaux
March 8, 2005
[Excerpts] A Tarpon Springs police officer committed suicide in her apartment Sunday, authorities said. Authorities received a call from Tarpon Springs police Officer John Spatz around 9:05 p.m. Sunday asking them to check on his former girlfriend and fellow officer, Michelle R. Hayward, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said. A short time later, deputies found Hayward, 26, in her apartment at 2350 Cypress Pond Road in Palm Harbor with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sheriff's Sgt. Tim Goodman said. Sheriff's detectives are investigating the incident and have interviewed Spatz and others about Hayward's death. Investigators have not released details about the weapon used in her death, but Goodman said Hayward owned a .38-caliber revolver and a police-issued 9-mm handgun. An autopsy is planned today. News of Hayward's death shocked Tarpon Springs' tight-knit Police Department. "It hurts everybody, but our thoughts and prayers go out to her family especially," Tarpon Springs police Sgt. Jeff Young said. "We have a few officers that were very close to her and are emotionally spent"... Before moving to Florida, she worked as a police officer with the Swanton Police Department about a half-hour west of Toledo, Ohio, from October 2001 to December 2002. She also worked as a part-time police officer for the Stryker Police Department in Ohio from September 2000 to October 2001. Swanton police Chief Homer Chapa was shocked to learn of Hayward's death Monday. She performed well on the job and was well liked by her fellow officers, he said. "She was level-headed. She knew what she was talking about and she was a good officer," Chapa said. "I would have never expected something like this from her. She must have been really hurting to do something like this." News of Hayward's death comes about a month after the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office launched an inquiry into an incident involving Hayward and Spatz after a lovers' quarrel got physical. Feb. 10, the two began arguing loudly in the parking lot of Hayward's apartment complex over clothes Spatz, 29, left at her apartment, authorities said... Monday, State Attorney Bernie McCabe said his office did not file charges against either officer and closed its investigation into the incident last week. McCabe said investigators did not note any significant or overt signs of distress in Hayward during their inquiry. "It's a tragedy," McCabe said. "There wasn't any indication that anything like this could happen"...

OBITUARIES
St. Petersburg Times
March 10, 2005
[Excerpt] HAYWARD, MICHELLE R., 26, of Palm Harbor, died Sunday (March 6, 2005) at home. She was born in Toledo, Ohio, and came here in 2003 from Maumee, Ohio. She worked as an officer in the patrol division of the Tarpon Springs Police Department since August 2003 and formerly worked with the Stryker and the Swanton police departments in Ohio. She graduated with an associate's degree in law enforcement in 2000 from Owen Community College. She played soccer and worked with the Ferret Shelter Rescue and recently earned her certification in scuba diving and snorkeling. Survivors include...

AFFAIR COSTS TARPON SPRINGS OFFICER HIS BADGE
St. Petersburg Times
Rita Farlow, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, December 18, 2008
[Excerpts] A city police officer on administrative leave since November while facing an accusation of an improper relationship was fired Wednesday. After a month-long internal investigation, police officials determined Officer John Spatz had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old high school student who participated in the department's ride-along program... Acting police Chief Bob Kochen fired Spatz for violating departmental policies that regulate personal and professional conduct. "We want the public to have confidence in us and we will take appropriate action if any employee acts in a way that undermines that confidence," said spokeswoman Lt. Barb Templeton... His personnel record includes a few minor infractions, but he was placed on administrative leave in February 2005 when the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office referred misdemeanor battery charges to the State Attorney's Office against Spatz and his ex-girlfriend, fellow Tarpon Springs police Officer Michelle R. Hayward. Spatz was reactivated two weeks later when the State Attorney's Office decided not to file charges against either party. Hayward committed suicide in March 2005... [Full article here]

TARPON SPRINGS COP FIRED FOR HAVING SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH TEENAGER IS REINSTATED
St. Petersburg Times
By Demorris A. Lee
Thursday, August 13, 2009
[Excerpts] Police Officer John Spatz had a lapse in judgment when he entered into a sexual relationship with a teenager he met through the Police Department's ride-along program. And, yes, he should have been disciplined in the matter. But the seven-year Tarpon Springs officer should not have been fired. Those were the key elements in an independent arbitrator's ruling released Wednesday. Spatz, 34, was to return to work today as a police officer after an eight-month absence since his firing in December... Spatz's time off in effect was a suspension without pay, the ruling said... Despite the ruling, Tarpon Springs' acting police chief stands by the decision to fire Spatz. Capt. Robert Kochen maintains the city had a strong case and did the right thing... [Full article here]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities suicide murder unsolved unresolved]