TAMPA - Former Tampa police officer Ray Sheridan was allowed to enter a pre-trial intervention program Wednesday, three years after he was accused of stalking his estranged wife and battering her boyfriend.
Sheridan, 50, was arrested in September 2000 after Brenda Sheridan called 911 screaming that her husband had kicked in the door of her home.
Police said Ray Sheridan pushed her boyfriend, Guillermo Rodriguez, out of the house.
Sheridan was charged with burglary with a battery, misdemeanor battery and aggravated stalking against both his wife and the boyfriend.
A judge threw out the stalking charge regarding Brenda Sheridan, and Wednesday, the Hillsborough State Attorney's office reduced the remaining counts to three charges of misdemeanor trespassing.
The charges will not appear on Sheridan's record provided he completes domestic violence and anger management classes.
Defense attorney Rick Terrana described the charges against Sheridan as stemming from a plan by Brenda Sheridan to ruin him.
He said Sheridan was reluctant to accept the intervention program because he wanted to prove his innocence at trial.
Terrana said the Tampa Police Department, where Sheridan was a veteran officer, fired Sheridan soon after his arrest.
He said Sheridan would try to get back on the force.
