Fired Orlando officer says he's fighting termination

ORLANDO, Fla. — Newly-fired Orlando police officer Dante Candelaria said he was let go just two days before he reached 10 years on the force, which would have vested him for retirement.

Candelaria filed for medical retirement several days ago, and OPD said Candelaria was lying about a medical injury from an on-duty crash four years earlier and fired him Thursday.

He said the injury was acting up so he went on light duty.

Several officers from the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation conducted surveillance of his house and planted a security camera in his neighbor's front yard.

Records show OPD saw him driving even though he said he couldn't and doing yard work.

Candelaria said the firing is really about a lawsuit he faced last year.

Two years ago, OPD arrested and charged him with false imprisonment with a gun after a confrontation with a teenaged gang member he thought was about to ambush him.

Last April, a jury acquitted Candelaria on excessive force charges, for a fight caught on surveillance cameras.

Candelaria said after that, nothing was the same.

"I'm sure OPD wasn't happy that I took it to trial and proved that the case was flawed," Candelaria said.

He said he is going to fight his firing.

WFTV