The St. Petersburg officers were subjects of three separate internal affairs investigations.
By Times Staff Writer
Published March 25, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - One police officer resigned, another was demoted and a third was suspended as a result of unrelated internal affairs investigations disclosed Wednesday.
Officer Sean Hartling resigned from the St. Petersburg Police Department after a December incident in which he chased a vehicle, without authorization, that was not in his assigned zone, police said.
The vehicle crashed, and Hartling fled the scene without checking for injuries or telling a supervisor what had happened, police said. If Hartling had not resigned, he would have been fired, police said.
Major Brian Stickney was demoted to sergeant after an investigation showed he had repeatedly and improperly contacted a woman with whom he had been involved romantically. His conduct, at times harassing, investigators said, could have been considered illegal, but the victim did not report the incidents for investigation, police said. He also was suspended for 10 days.
A third officer, Vincent Trubilla, was suspended for five days after he accidentally fired a shotgun into the trunk of his car and did not report the incident to supervisors, police said.
