JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Irving Diaz is accused of allowing a woman to drive his police car twice. Last summer, Diaz was disciplined for embracing his girlfriend in uniform in public.
A new Internal Affairs report said that two witnesses said they saw a "scantily dressed" woman wearing "short shorts" and a "skimpy t-shirt" driving Diaz's patrol car two separate times.
The sister of Diaz, who didn't want to be named, is defending her brother, saying there's more to the story.
She said that even though his decision wasn't a good one, something Irving Diaz admitted to investigators, there is more behind the story.
The first complaint was from a man married to Diaz's ex-wife, Jonathan Potter, who was dropping off Diaz's kids for a visit.
Potter said he was waiting in Diaz's driveway to drop the kids off when he watched Diaz's patrol cop drive up and Diaz got out of the passenger door. He said he then saw a woman wearing short shorts and a t-shirt get out of the driver's door and run into the house.
"When I talk about motives behind the story, I think it's important for everybody to know that they are currently going through a huge custody battle. And she's trying to take control of the children. So I think anything that can be used against him is going to be used against him," said Diaz's sister.
"I spoke with my brother, and I think it's funny, because they made it sound like she's a scantily clad woman, you know, that he was dating, and you know when I spoke with him, she was actually a nice girl who he met at church," said Diaz's sister
A second complaint came from Tim Burris who said he saw the same "scantily dressed" woman, driving the patrol car to the Hooters on San Jose.
The report said that Diaz admitted that he did allow Rebecca Guzman-Phillips to drive his patrol on both occasions but that it was a "bad idea."
The report also said that Diaz searched the police database to check for warrants on the Guzman-Phillips.
"I think as a single father and I was dating somebody children that I was bringing around someone, I would want to look up that information as well just to see who he's bringing around," said Diaz's sister.
Diaz faces two counts of conduct unbecoming of an officer and improper use of computer software.
News4Jax also tried to get in contact with Diaz to get his side of the story.