VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A Deltona woman accused by Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood of making false accusations against a deputy won’t face formal charges, according to the state attorney’s office.
The incident began on April 22 when Deltona resident Tammy Stuck and her husband had a brief encounter with a Volusia County deputy outside the Deltona commission chambers ahead of a meeting.
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Stuck, who was wearing a knee brace, went through the metal detector and it went off, surveillance video shows. The deputy then touched Stuck’s knee briefly, the video shows. It also showed Stuck laughing and her husband tell the deputy, “Get your hands off my wife.”
During a May 17 meeting, Stuck spoke during public comment and told city commissioners the deputy working at the metal detector “put his hands on me, put his hands between my legs.” Stuck filed a formal complaint with the sheriff’s office against the deputy on the same day as their public comments.
Coming to the defense of his deputy, Chitwood released the surveillance video of the encounter and the sheriff’s office recommended Stuck be charged with one count of filing a false allegation, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Chitwood said the Stucks’ account was “a blatant lie and a disgusting attempt to ruin a deputy’s career.”
After reviewing the case, Managing Assistant State Attorney Mike Willard said the state would not formally charge Stuck. Willard wrote in the decision they reviewed reports, witness statement and videos.
Prosecutors found that Stuck’s official complaint about the deputy was “saturated with her own editorial and opinion” and was “arguably politically motivated as she has called for the scanning device and process to be removed.” The security measures were put in place in response to Stuck’s husband’s activity at a previous meeting, according to the state attorney’s office.
Ultimately, the office declined to prosecute Stuck, writing “the Deputy did touch her leg on both sides of the knee to confirm the existence of the brace and not a weapon. She is careful not to make any other factual allegations regarding the alleged touching. Her comments evincing her opinion and innuendo do not fall within the purview of criminal conduct under the statute enumerated in the complaint.”
Willard filed a notice Wednesday that it would not prosecute.