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Deputy charged in domestic battery

NORA KOCH
Published February 12, 2004

A Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy remained in jail Wednesday after he was arrested at his Largo home Tuesday evening and charged with domestic battery.

Tad A. Camp, a patrolman hired in July 2000, is accused of beating a woman Monday night during an argument. The woman was identified in records as his wife.

Largo police arrested Camp at his home the next evening and booked him in the Pinellas County Jail. A judge set his bond at $15,000, and ordered him to have no contact with the victim.

Camp, 37, was still in jail Wednesday afternoon.

The Sheriff's Office immediately placed Camp on administrative leave and launched an internal affairs investigation Wednesday.

Largo Police declined to discuss the arrest or give further details, saying only that the matter is under investigation.

According to the affidavit, the incident occurred when Camp and the victim, whose name is being withheld, were arguing and he accused her of having an affair.

Police say he assaulted her, throwing her on the floor and grabbing her throat. She received medical treatment for welts and bruises on her face, arms, shoulder and back, police said.

Camp denied striking the victim, according to the affidavit.

A woman who answered the phone Wednesday at Camp's home said the victim had no comment.

Camp is scheduled to go to court in the matter on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Camp's name was in the news earlier this year when he was injured while responding to a fatal shooting at a real estate office in Seminole Jan. 29. Another vehicle crashed into his cruiser as Camp drove through an intersection with his lights and siren on. Camp was transported from the accident scene to Bayfront Medical Center. The driver of the other car, Arthur Caporale of Connecticut, received a ticket for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.

Camp is the second sheriff's deputy to be charged with domestic battery since October, when Deputy Louis Evans, 42, was charged with resisting arrest without violence and domestic battery stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend. Evans was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 20 and returned to duty Oct. 27.

- Nora Koch can be reached at nkoch@sptimes.com or 727 445-4165. News researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

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