JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested one of their own Thursday after detectives said a female acquaintance told them that the 11-year veteran patrol officer made some unwanted sexual advances on her and tried to give her prescription pain pills.
Officer Scott Bridges was booked into jail on two counts of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of battery.
Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt said the woman texted Bridges last Wednesday asking him to bring her a Coke Zero and some pain pills. She said that when Bridges showed up and gave her three pills in a bag, he sat next to her on the couch and made sexual advances.
"He showed up and had a bag with some pills which he gave to her and she didn't take. She said as they were sitting on the couch together he made sexual advances," Senterfitt said. "She told him to stop and he kind of forced the issue. Try to pull her pants down, a few things like that, and she said stop, which eventually he did and he left her residence."
She told investigators that after being repeatedly asked to stop as he touched her and tried to take her pants down, he eventually did stop and left. She called police, and the Integrity Unit found probable cause for the arrest.
"I don't care who it is; if they do something wrong, we're going to investigate it. If we prove they did it, they're going to be held accountable. That's why he went to jail today," Senterfitt said.
Police were still investigating where the hydrocodone and other pills that were in the bag came from.
Senterfitt said Bridges is on a voluntary leave of absence without pay, and once the criminal prosecution is completed, he would face an internal review before he could be considered to be reinstated.
Under state law, the booking photo and other information of police officers arrested is not released.