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Report details nude firehouse shoot

Newly released records show that an exchange of favors may have been behind the photos that led to a fire captain's dismissal.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published March 11, 2005

TAMPA - One day before the grievance hearing in which Al Suarez will ask for his job back at Tampa Fire Rescue, city officials released additional records that point to Suarez as the organizer of a nude photo shoot at a New Tampa fire station.

The five-page report by Tampa Police Detective J.D. Tindall, released Thursday, details his interview last month with one of two strippers featured in the photos, as well as her fiance.

Heather Renee Swafford and her fiance, Richard Nicholas Busino, portrayed their visit to Station 21 as a case of them getting one favor in exchange for another.

Suarez, a longtime fire captain preparing to marry a Hillsborough public defender, wanted strippers at his bachelor party.

Busino and Swafford, a stripper at Thee Dollhouse in Tampa, wanted a new photo backdrop for the adult Internet site they run from their Lutz home.

Let us pose at one of Tampa Fire Rescue's stations, they told Suarez, and we might arrange for the strippers at your bachelor party, according to Tindall's report.

They met Suarez Oct. 17 at a Chili's in New Tampa and, with another stripper who called herself Jamie, followed Suarez to Station 21 off Cross Creek Boulevard.

Swafford and Jamie, later identified as Jayne Denise Mattocks, posed in front of a fire truck for pictures. The racy pictures ended up on various Web sites under titles like "Jamie's Firehouse Fun."

Busino then arranged for Swafford and Mattocks to strip at Suarez's Nov. 4 bachelor party. He paid them for their services.

"Busino said that it was never part of the deal with Suarez to have the dancers attend the party for free," Tindall wrote.

That alleged deal has cost Suarez his career and his reputation as a rising star within the department.

Last month, a six-week investigation into the incident concluded that Suarez, 44, organized the shoot with the strippers.

Four other firefighters at the station that day - Steve Johnson, Michael Berwald, Michael Layton and Michael Campbell - were suspended.

Suarez was fired. But Mayor Pam Iorio and Fire Chief Dennis Jones let him use several vacation days so that he could stay on the books until his 20th anniversary with the department.

The move allows Suarez, former president of the firefighters union and a friend of Iorio, to get his full pension.

Suarez filed his grievance earlier this month, asking to be reinstated to his nearly $80,000-a-year job. He also wants back pay. The grievance hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. today. Suarez's attorney Bob McKee maintains that Berwald, who worked part-time at Thee Dollhouse, organized the shoot through his connections with Swafford and then lied to investigators.

Berwald and the other three firefighters initially lied to investigators, but later came forward. They all said Suarez and two other fire captains called them frequently after the photo session - pressuring them to lie to about the firehouse incident and threatening them if they told the truth.

Swafford, 31, and Busino, 27, initially turned down Tindall's interview request, citing "fear of retaliation" and "fear of their testimony being the instrument of severe discipline of those involved," according to his report.

But they called the next day, Feb. 1, and told him they were ready to talk.

Tindall sat with the couple at their dining room table. Busino did all the talking, Tindall wrote, but Swafford "sat in and concurred with Busino."

Busino told Tindall they met Suarez when he came into Three Dollhouse one day while off duty.

"According to Busino, Suarez was very anxious to discuss getting dancers at the bachelor party," Tindall wrote.

At the end of the interview, Tindall asked Busino if Suarez had coached him about what to tell investigators.

"His response was "no comment,"' Tindall wrote. Tindall then asked Busino if Berwald had called him and pressured him.

"He said "no,"' Tindall wrote.

McKee, Suarez's attorney, said he will present evidence at today's hearing to show that Berwald organized the photo shoot.

McKee said he will provide the results of a polygraph test that Suarez passed.

Fire rescue administrators have seven days after today's hearing to rule on Suarez's request for his job back. If they deny him, Suarez can appeal to the city's director of human resources, Sarah Lang. If Lang rejects his request, he can seek arbitration.

"I would reallly like to focus on all the good stuff we do and move on," Chief Jones said. "But it just won't go away."

Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 11, 2005, 01:22:10]