Orlando Police are reviewing the conduct of a veteran officer accused of brutality by a woman who suffered broken front teeth and an arm bruise before being arrested.
In an arrest affidavit, Officer Livio Beccaccio wrote that Lisa Wareham pushed, hit and screamed at him while he was trying to break up a street fight near the downtown Orange County Public Library in February. She was arrested on three charges, including battery on a law-enforcement officer, a felony.
The lawyer defending Wareham in the criminal case characterized Beccaccio’s treatment of the woman as a “crime.”
“This officer is pretty damn dangerous,” Attorney Andrew Zelman said Friday. “This is officer-induced mayhem.”
Police spokeswoman Lt. Barbara Jones would not comment on the criminal case but said the incident is under official review.
City-owned surveillance cameras recorded the exchange Feb. 25 between Beccaccio, 38, and Wareham, now 20, and a group of others near the intersection of East Central Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue.
The video shows Wareham standing on the corner in a black dress surrounded by several others. Officers on foot and on bicycles arrive at the corner and begin directing people to sit down and move apart.
The recording does not have audio.
At some point, Beccaccio pushes a man with dreadlocks, and he stumbles backward onto Wareham. Beccaccio then directs Wareham away from the crowd. Seconds later Beccaccio grabs Wareham by the arm and shoves her into the street using an “arm bar” technique.
Wareham loses her balance and falls face-first to the pavement. When she sits up, she is grabbing her mouth, the video shows.
Beccaccio wrote in an arrest report that he “pushed Wareham back in an effort to both create distance from her and I, and to prevent her from attacking [the other man]. Wareham stumbled forward and fell to the pavement.”
Wareham dialed 911 to complain she was injured. That’s when she was arrested.
Attorney Zelman wants his client exonerated, the officer fired and the use-of-force policy reviewed again. Another Orlando officer using an “arm bar” take-down technique broke an 85-year-old man’s neck in September during another dispute on the street.
“Beccaccio has indicated he has a willingness to use violence,” Zelman said. “He should be fired.”
Wareham has not filed a formal complaint against Beccaccio, who has been with the department since 2002.
Zelman said he contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement this month, asking the agency to look into the officer’s actions. He then took the matter to local media.
A spokesman for FDLE said the agency is aware of the incident but has not opened a formal review. Agents are discussing the matter with Orlando police, and a decision will be made next week on whether FDLE will get involved, spokesman Jack Massey said.
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