BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A deputy with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office was arrested and fired Thursday after authorities found him living in "deplorable" conditions, with drugs and weapons inside the home where his girlfriend and 2-year-old child live, according to the sheriff.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a press conference Thursday that Nick Worthy, who was named Deputy of the Year in 2015, and his live-in girlfriend, Rachel Trexler, were taken into custody around 6 a.m., after authorities were called to their Viera home Wednesday night when neighbors reported hearing gunfire.
Ivey said deputies were called to their home around 8:30 p.m. after neighbors said they heard the gunshots and a woman screaming. When they arrived at the couple's home, no one would come to the door, deputies said.
Responding deputies told their supervisors that no one was answering, Ivey said. The supervisors then contacted officials with the Sheriff's Office investigative unit to obtain a search warrant, the sheriff said.
After obtaining the warrant, deputies breached Worthy's home Thursday morning, Ivey said.
When they entered the home, which the sheriff described as being in "complete disarray," authorities found Worthy and Trexler inside with their 2-year-old child and three dogs, according to the sheriff.
Investigators found weapons and ammunition lying around, evidence of gunshots that appeared to be consistent with what neighbors described hearing, and a small amount of drugs and paraphernalia, Ivey said. In addition to trash, litter and food, dog feces could also be seen "all over" the home, the sheriff said.
Ivey called the couple's living conditions "extremely disgusting," especially for a member of law enforcement who is also a parent.
"It was absolutely conditions that no one should live in, especially not somebody that has a profession such as ours and certainly, with absolute conviction, not somebody that has a small child that was exposed to that type of environment, that type of element," Ivey said.
Worthy and Trexler were both arrested and face charges of child neglect, possession of cocaine and marijuana under 20 grams and possession of paraphernalia, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The child is in the custody of the Department of Children and Families, the sheriff said. Ivey said the three dogs were turned over to BCSO's Animal Services unit.
Ivey said Worthy was fired immediately after his arrest. The sheriff said he is asking the State Attorney's Office to fully prosecute the case.
“As I’ve said before, we will police our own," Ivey said.
Ivey said investigators are still working to determine whether a domestic incident took place, but that authorities' main concern was relocating the child and the couple's pets to safe environments.
Worthy, who had been with the Sheriff's Office since 2012, was last assigned to the east precinct as a road deputy, the sheriff said.
He was named "Deputy of the Year" by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office in 2015, according to a news release. In 2016, he was named "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" by the Florida Sheriff's Association.