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A report faults a third officer who was working an undercover prostitution sting for not identifying herself.
By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 26, 2002
TAMPA -- When Officers Jonathan Touchton and Mark Montague saw a woman in ratty jeans and a dirty T-shirt sitting on a bus bench on Nebraska Avenue in February 2001, they had the same thought:
Prostitute.
"I thought I recognized her from putting her in jail up around Hillsborough Avenue awhile back," Montague recalled. "I think Officer Touchton felt the same way. He said, "I think I put her in jail too.' "
Because officers can detain prostitutes for trespassing on county bus benches, Touchton and Montague approached the woman.
The officers questioned her. She repeatedly told them her name was "Cookie." The officers grabbed her arms and put her in the back of a police car.
Trouble was, "Cookie" was really Tampa police Officer Beverly Youngblood, who was working an undercover prostitution sting.
The incident was the subject of an internal affairs investigation at the Tampa Police Department, centered around whether Touchton and Montague used suitable force and whether they treated Youngblood properly.
Both officers were cleared of any wrongdoing, according to a Sept. 25 letter to Chief Bennie Holder from Deputy Chief Tina Wright.
Youngblood was bruised, and a doctor told her that she suffered a tissue tear in the neck and right shoulder.
According to a summary of the case, officers who were working with Youngblood during the undercover operation did not attempt to tell Montague and Touchton that they were approaching a decoy.
"This act could have prevented the encounter from occurring," wrote Capt. S. Jones.
Shortly after Youngblood was placed in the car, other members of the undercover team drove up and told Montague and Touchton that she was an officer.
Also, Youngblood could have prevented the incident had she not given the officers a false name.
"Her deceitfulness thus interfered with the lawful trespass investigation being conducted by both officers," Jones wrote. "Officer Youngblood could have and should have identified herself as an officer as soon as both officers in uniform approached her. This situation could have easily escalated to the point where Officer Youngblood was taken to the ground and handcuffed."