NAPLES, Fla. -- A Collier County Sheriff's deputy has been reassigned, and is under investigation.
Sgt. Michael Kastner of the Collier County Sheriff's Office is being investigated by Internal Affairs. He has been taken off patrol duty and re-assigned until that investigation is finished.
The probe involves accusations that Kastner struck a teen with his patrol car.
Confidential informants tell Fox 4 that Sgt. Michael Kastner was on patrol recently in the Golden Gate neighborhood in Naples. Although not confirmed by the sheriff’s office, the informant claims witnesses
watched as a 17-year-old boy on a bicycle was struck by Sgt. Kastner's patrol car. The teenager was then tossed against the hood of the patrol car.
We asked for copies of the incident report, but the request was denied, since the report is part of the Internal Affairs probe on Sgt. Kastner.
Fox 4 in addition asked the sheriff's department to reveal whether the teen asked for medical treatment. The department failed to respond.
Collier County Sheriff's media relations manager Karie Partington confirmed the following:
"Yes, I can confirm that the PRB (Professional Responsibility Bureau) investigation relates to a crash involving a 17-year-old on a bike. There is also a separate crash investigation being conducted. I can tell you that Sgt. Kastner has been assigned to another unit while the investigations are being conducted."
This is not the first time Sgt. Kastner has been the focus of an Internal Affairs investigation. In 2007, Kastner was suspended for two days and put on probation for six months for not properly reporting a deputy who hit a prisoner while handcuffed.
We asked to interview Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk about this story, but the sheriff declined to go on camera.
The sheriff's office did say it would reveal all the facts of the alleged incident after it wraps up the Internal Affairs probe.
