Nicolas Paloma (Clearwater Police Department)
A 29-year-old police officer in Florida was arrested this week after he allegedly stopped a tourist for jaywalking, then gave the woman a ride home and told her she could make the charges go away by “doing things for him.”
Officer Nicolas Paloma was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count of sexual battery by a law enforcement officer and one count of false imprisonment, both felonies, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
“I had to check myself before coming in here,” Clearwater Chief of Police Eric Gandy said during a Tuesday news conference hours after Paloma’s arrest. “I’m exceptionally upset about the betrayal of trust, the level of confidence that people have in our officers — it is exceptionably damaging to our reputation and the reputation of everyone in law enforcement. It erodes the confidence in our profession, and on a personal level, I know how hard we struggle to maintain trust, so for me, having to come here today was infuriating because I have to have this conversation with you, but it’s an important conversation to have.”
According to Gandy, the situation unfolded early Sunday morning, at about 2:30, when Paloma conducted a pedestrian stop of a 32-year-old woman at the Clearwater Beach roundabout. Paloma “engaged her in conversation,” offering to drive her back to her hotel, and she took him up on the offer and got in his police vehicle.
Paloma, who has been with the police agency since 2018, told the victim she could “take care of the charges by doing things for him,” Gandy said.
Gandy said once the victim got in his car, Paloma tried to prevent his department from being able to track his vehicle. For about 30 minutes, Paloma drove the woman around to various locations on Clearwater Beach and engaged in sex acts with her before dropping her off down the street from her hotel.
Shortly after the victim was dropped off, officers responded to a call about a disturbance at the victim’s hotel room involving two women arguing. Once there, officers found the victim arguing with her friend. The victim then told officers what had just happened with Officer Paloma, according to Gandy.
The officers who responded to the hotel relayed the information up the chain of command, and detectives opened an investigation into the allegations against Paloma. Gandy said the department’s Crimes Against Children and Families Unit took over the investigation before bringing charges against the officer.
“What this officer did is reprehensible,” Gandy said. “He’s someone who took an oath to enforce the law, not break the law in an egregious way while wearing a badge and a uniform.”
According to Gandy, Paloma is on administrative leave.
The chief said that while Paloma has no disciplinary history during his tenure, he may have done something similar in the past. He asked anyone with information to call the department at 727-562-4385.
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