Women Baring Breasts For Fla. Deputies' Beads Leads To Firing

NAPLES, Fla.- A sheriff's sergeant who was in charge of tracking Collier County's sex offenders has been fired for trying to cover up video and photographs of young women baring their breasts for a boatload of uniformed deputies last year. The on-duty deputies offered Mardi Gras-style beads to get the women to undress and dance in a canoe race event last May. Sgt. Tige Thompson, who was one of the deputies, was fired last month. Officials said he was found to be the ringleader in taking the photos and video, then he ordered subordinates and others to get rid of the images when he heard an investigation was being started. Four other deputies were disciplined for improper conduct. Thompson, who joined the agency in 1993, was in charge of the unit tracking Collier County's sex offenders. He appealed his firing, but was turned down by Sheriff Don Hunter earlier this week. The internal affairs file, a copy of which was obtained the Naples Daily News, was made public Friday. The canoe race, an annual end-of-winter-season event, was held on May 8, 2004. It is one of the county's most crowded boating days and one of the area's biggest parties. Local waterways are flooded with officers looking for drunken boaters or trying to thwart post-race fights. No formal citizen complaints were filed, but deputies who were interviewed recalled hearing comments such as "our tax dollars at work" from passing boaters about the actions of the six deputies on the boat.

(Local 6 Article here)