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Two Hillsborough firefighters filing complaints and lawsuit against St. Petersburg Police Department

Charges dropped for Walker and Ramirez
Posted at 7:51 PM, Jun 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-15 01:39:27-04

Two Hillsborough firefighters are back to work after prosecutors dropped their criminal charges.

Our I-Team first broke the story of their arrests last month. An officer tased one of the firefighters.

I-Team investigator Jarrod Holbrook sat down with both firefighters and their attorney.

The firefighters would not comment about their case because they say they plan to sue the St. Petersburg Police Department.
 
With his clients present, attorney Jerry "T" Theophilopoulos reacted to criminal charges getting dropped for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue firefighters Clint Walker and Robert Ramirez.

Both were at the Del Mar bar in St Pete last month when officers questioned Walker about an assault caught on camera. Turns out he wasn't the suspect.

But they did arrest him for battery on a law enforcement officer after police accused him of being combative.

Bar and cellphone video show an officer tasing him with his hands behind his back. He says the officer tased him three to four times, then kicked him in the groin.

Ramirez was arrested for obstruction after police accused him of being aggressive.

Bar video shows the same officer who tased Walker, Officer Ruben Dejesus, later grabbed Ramirez by the face, and when he was escorted out in handcuffs, Dejesus pushes him.

Now both firefighters want to see the officer face charges. They're in the process of filing a complaint with St Petersburg police.
 
"We're also filing a complaint with the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa, and finally FDLE...We intend on pursuing a civil suit at the appropriate time," Theophilopoulos said.

St. Petersburg police are conducting an internal affairs investigation into the actions of Dejesus.

Dejesus joined St Petersburg Police Department in 1985. In 2013, he won a life-saving award from the department and has been nominated for officer of the year several times.

Walker believes the officer targeted him that night because he's a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, a group federal and local law enforcement consider to be a "criminal gang."

Walker was wearing Outlaws clothing at the time he was tased.
 
Theophilopoulos says, "And thankfully we have civilians and the bar video to show you who's telling the truth, is it law enforcement? Or is it a decorated Marine veteran, firefighter and proud outlaw?"

St. Petersburg police are not releasing the full police report from that night and are not commenting.  

They tell us it's still part of an active investigation.