VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Aaron Swartzfager, with the Daytona Beach Police Department, is off the streets and on desk duty while he is under investigation for leaving the scene of a crash, investigators say.
Body cameras on Edgewater police officers were rolling while Swartzfager was questioned during the traffic stop. The cameras were then turned off when officers realized Swartzfager was also a member of law enforcement.
Edgewater’s police chief told Channel 9’s Jeff Levkulich his officers acted appropriately during the stop. A field sobriety test was not done, a citation wasn’t issued either, but the chief said the incident has brought a policy change for body cameras.
Swartzfager, who was off-duty, was pulled over June 7 when he was caught driving with a trash can under his vehicle near 16th Street and India Palm Drive just after 2 a.m.
Swartzfager was asked by one of the officers how much had had to drink.
“I had a couple of (unintelligible), that’s it,” Swartfager said to the officers, who were recorded on the body camera.
“You are throwing sparks,” Officer Binz said in the bodycamera video to Swartfager.
“You know, I honestly, I had no idea,” Swartfager said.
Contact Jeff Levkulich for more on his story.According to Swartfager's Facebook post from earlier in the night, he was "eating beer" at a New Smyrna Beach Bar.
Swartfager also said someone threw something at his truck to explain why it was damaged, officers said.
“Nobody threw nothing at your truck right there, that's a straight, you hit it. Come on Aaron, you are a cop, you know just like we know,” Officer Binz told Swartfager.
“No, I know, I know,” Swartfager said.
Officers then took Swartfager’s badge and gun and took the keys out of the ignition.
The body camera video ended four minutes after the stop, even though police didn't clear the scene for 14 more minutes.
Eyewitness News asked Edgewater’s police chief why there was no field sobriety test, and why officers were allowed to turn the body camera off.
The chief said Swartzfager received no special treatment and defended his officers saying they felt, based on observations, that Swartzfager did not appear impaired.
The chief said their investigation into this case is closed. The state has not been called in either.
The Daytona Beach Police Department is the only agency investigating the case. They have launched an internal investigation in Swartzfager regarding the June 7 incident.