Pictured above: Karla Correa, a second-year political science major, criticized the police department’s internal investigation, contending that the investigator did not interview all potential witnesses, glossed over important witness statements and did not fully address her allegations.
Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
By James Bennett III
A senator in Student Government who was detained and handcuffed by university police in November for interfering with an investigation now faces a criminal charge from the Pinellas-Pasco state attorney’s office.
Karla Correa, 20, a second-year political science major, was charged Feb. 4 with obstructing or resisting an officer without violence.
That is a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine.
The charge against Correa came shortly before the university police department released a 32-page internal report on the November incident. The report cleared two officers of misconduct and concluded that “Correa’s actions, both verbally and physically, hindered their ability to complete that investigation.”
In response, Correa said she has hired an attorney – whom she did not identify – to defend her against the state attorney’s charge.
She also criticized the police department’s internal investigation, contending that the investigator did not interview all potential witnesses and glossed over some statements from other witnesses.
Correa said the investigator did not properly address her allegations that the officers used excessive force against her and that one of the officers had made inappropriate comments in the past.
“Police are never held accountable so I’m not surprised,” she said.
At issue in the case is the way two university police officers – who are white – were treating a young black man who was seen trying to get into Residence Hall One around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 7.
The man, a non-student who has had several brushes with the law, was ultimately given a trespass warning and barred from campus.
Correa, who was leaving RHO with friends, objected to the way the officers were treating the man, Joshua Isaiah Simmons, 21.
When she ignored the officers’ instructions to keep her distance, police said, they handcuffed her for obstructing their investigation and took her to the university police office.
The police then referred the case to the state attorney’s office and to the university’s Office of Student Conduct, which investigates alleged violations of the campus code of conduct.
The next day, Correa and two of her friends filed allegations of misconduct against the two officers, Michael Wasserman and Patrick O’Donnell.
That led to the internal investigation by university police Lt. Paul Andrews that ended Feb. 13 with the 32-page report clearing the officers.
Correa and her friends “really felt like they had legal course to do what they did,” but the police investigation “determined (the students) really overstepped their bounds,” said police Chief David Hendry. “Their intentions, while good, may have been misguided. They basically stepped in and interfered with the officers and the legal performance of their duties.
“While we encourage you to monitor police activities and ensure that you are maintaining a watchful eye and so forth, it is definitely not appropriate to insert yourself into the middle of an investigation where officers are dealing with a suspicious person,” said Hendry.
Naya Payne, a friend of Correa who witnessed the confrontation and co-signed the complaint against the two officers, has said a police internal investigation of its own officers would be biased against the students.
“It’s easy for someone to say that,” responded Hendry, “but I have a vested interest to ensure that our police department is a professional law enforcement agency, that the campus can feel safe, that we are providing the best service to our community.”
In a statement, Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock praised university police “for conducting an investigation that was thorough and unbiased.
“The findings are clear: the officers involved acted properly to keep our students safe, which is always our top priority at USFSP,” said Tadlock. “I appreciate the professionalism that all members of the UPD displayed throughout this incident and their ongoing commitment to serving our campus community.”
What happened that night?
According to a police report, officer Wasserman first saw Simmons “acting strangely” in the campus parking garage around 11:16 p.m.
Wasserman, who has been on the overnight shift for 11-and-a-half years, according to the UPD internal investigation, noted that Simmons didn’t appear to be a student or faculty member, was wearing dark clothing and was in a place that was unusual for anyone to be in, particularly late at night.
Wasserman tried to call out to Simmons near the Peter Rudy Wallace building, but Simmons — who was chanting something — only acknowledged Wasserman with a grin, then turned around and kept walking.
Shortly afterward, Wasserman watched Simmons try to get into RHO.
Wassserman asked Simmons if he was a student or staff member. Simmons said that he was neither and that he pulled on the RHO door handle because he was curious what the building looked like from the inside.
Wasserman told Simmons that although he wasn’t in trouble, he was going to be issued a trespass warning from the campus. Officer O’Donnell arrived around that time, after Wasserman requested backup, and Wasserman retrieved a trespass warning form and a clipboard from his car.
During the investigation, Simmons indicated he knew someone who lives in RHO, but he was unable to give Wasserman a name, room number or phone number. Instead, Simmons kept calling out to students, claiming they knew each other and asking them to let him into the building.
Wasserman noted that Simmons stuck a hand down his pants at one point during the conversation, “vigorously” rubbed his genitals, then looked at Wasserman and sniffed two fingers.
In the internal investigation report, O’Donnell said Simmons seemed relaxed and was flipping his wallet around while talking to O’Donnell. According to the report, the two mostly joked about the fact that Simmons couldn’t name anyone in RHO.
During the UPD internal investigation later on, Simmons — who was in custody at the Pinellas County Jail on unrelated charges — said he has a scattered memory of the night because he was drunk. However, Simmons said he did not feel threatened by the officers.
Shortly before the officers finished issuing Summons his trespass, around 11:36 p.m., Correa and a group of her friends walked out of RHO and Correa began speaking to Simmons. There were other students nearby who watched the incident.
Correa said Simmons looked uneasy, so she asked if he was all right. After Simmons said he wasn’t all right, Correa said, she decided to stick around.
Officers Wasserman and O’Donnell asked whether Correa knew Simmons. Correa said she did, but later admitted they had never met and only told the officers she knew Simmons because she didn’t trust them.
“I was just trying to make sure he was OK,” Correa said in a previous interview with The Crow’s Nest. “I wasn’t trying to lie to the police. I wasn’t trying to cause any trouble.”
Past incidents on campus
Security at the campus’ two residence halls is a top priority of university police.
There have been multiple instances of non-residents breaching RHO’s security and putting residents in danger.
In February 2019, a 19-year-old male gained access to the building, waited for a female resident he had briefly dated to return to her dorm, then dragged her to a stairwell by her hair and battered her. Then, he forced her into her car and drove to a secluded area to batter her again.
Two months later, another non-student, 21, followed his former girlfriend into RHO and battered another student there, police said.In February 2016, another non-student was arrested after he masturbated behind a female student and touched her in the parking garage elevator.
