ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- An Orlando police officer, who was caught on camera shoving a woman to the ground, won't face any criminal charges, according to officials. Officer Livio Beccaccio slammed Lisa Wareham to the ground so hard that he broke her teeth.
However, the police chief said on Thursday that Beccaccio was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. But he's not completely off the hook.
Police Chief Paul Rooney said he believes that anyone who reads a 40-page report on the incident will see that Beccaccio didn't intentionally try to hurt or permanently disfigure Wareham.
Wareman told WFTV that "it's bogus."
"They're going to get away with it. Why? Because they're a cop," she told WFTV.
Wareham, 20, said she's not surprised, but certainly frustrated that Beccaccio will not be charged.
The video shows that Officer Beccaccio slammed Wareham to the ground and broke her front teeth, and then walked away and shoved a man, Reid Robertson, into a light pole.
Beccaccio was there to break up a fight.
"There was no evidence to establish Officer Beccaccio touched Lisa Wareham to cause great bodily harm," Rooney said.
Rooney said the Criminal Investigation Division interviewed officers on the scene, along with Wareham and Robertson. Their testimony was inconsistent and the Criminal Investigation Division accused them of lying.
They said before Beccaccio threw Wareham to the ground, other officers tried repeatedly to restrain her, but she was belligerent.
"You have an Orlando police officer investigating one of their own. What do you say to the public who might be saying, 'That's not fair,'" asked WFTV reporter Daralene Jones.
"We are professional; we completed a thorough investigation," Rooney replied.
Beccaccio could still be disciplined after a separate internal investigation is finished, if the department's Internal Affairs determines he used too much force.
"He's a big man. Couldn't he have used another method to restrain her?" Jones asked.
"Again, Daralene, that will all come up in the Internal Affairs investigation," Rooney replied.
WFTV talked to Wareham's attorney, who said he is still pursing a civil suit and has a plan to pursue criminal charges on the federal level.
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