The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office finds itself caught up in another issue involving allegations of aggressive behavior from one of its deputies.
Sheriff Donald Smith, in a news release sent out to local media outlets Monday evening, reported that sheriff’s deputy Andrew Simonetti has been placed on administrative leave after video surfaced of Simonetti tackling a suspect in the course of making an arrest in a Dec. 9 incident in Verona.
Smith noted in the release that he has asked Virginia State Police to conduct a criminal investigation into the incident seen on the video.
“No additional information and/or comments will be released until the conclusion of the State Police investigation,” Smith said in a statement in the news release.
This latest incident took place at 12:02 p.m. on Saturday, according to the news release, when Augusta County Fire & Rescue personnel were dispatched to a medical call at a storage facility in the 100 block of Lodge Lane in Verona involving Frank Allen Schulpman, 58.
At 12:20 pm, an Augusta County sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to assist the rescue personnel on scene, due to Schulpman becoming disorderly, per the release.
The deputy arrived at 12:28 pm and learned that Schulpman had been drinking, seemed to be intoxicated, and had been swinging at rescue personnel when they tried to help him.
When the initial deputy approached Schulpman, the suspect was reported to be belligerent, threatened the deputy, and took a fighting stance, prompting the deputy to request assistance from additional deputies.
A second deputy arrived on scene, and Schulpman was taken into custody.
Video of the arrest was made available to the sheriff’s office on Monday, according to the release from Smith.
The move to place Simonetti on administrative leave comes weeks after another deputy, Bill Mikolay, was arrested on malicious wounding and assault and battery charges stemming from the Sept. 29 arrest of a wanted Gordonsville man that ended up putting the subject in the hospital.
A third active case against another deputy, CJ Taylor, who is facing two assault and battery charges from an Aug. 31, 2022, incident in the City of Staunton, has been continued until Feb. 29, 2024.
The sheriff’s office is also facing a $5 million lawsuit filed against Smith and four of his deputies over what happened in an Oct. 8, 2020, traffic stop.
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Chris Graham
