Former St. Lucie County Deputy Evan Cramer is behind bars, accused of sexual battery and negotiating a sexual act in exchange for not taking a woman to jail whom he stopped for a traffic offense.
When Sheriff Ken Mascara announced Cramer's arrest, he confirmed that Cramer previously worked for Sanford Police Department. He said, "Issues there, he resigned. I think he was relocating here."
But Contact 5 found, Cramer's story isn't exactly true. Although Cramer said in his St. Lucie Sheriff's Office application he left Sanford to "pursue a career with another agency," Sanford Police documents show Cramer resigned after he was told he'd be fired.
Sanford Police employed Cramer for less than a year, but during that time the department investigated him for misconduct 12 times. That includes not following instructions, inappropriate language, and using his authority to force someone to give up their animal.
Cramer's entire chain of command recommended Sanford fire Cramer, fearing "he would be a risk to the department." Four months later, St. Lucie County hired him.
Cramer's personnel file shows he scored high recommendations from St. Lucie County higher-ups in February 2016.
But a month later, a letter from a background investigator shows one major didn't want to hire Cramer because of the troubles they uncovered in Sanford.
Major David Thompson directed the investigator, to "cease the background investigation and send the applicant a letter of rejection."
In an email statement, spokesperson Bryan Beaty, for the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, states they did reject Cramer, but he asked to be reconsidered for a non-paid deputy reserve position.
The statement also said, "we granted this in order to evaluate his performance, and over the course of four months as a reserve, with stellar performance, we extended an offer for full time employment."
The St. Lucie County sheriff did not answer our requests for an interview Thursday. The spokesperson says the Sheriff stand by statements made Wednesday, saying one bad apple should not spoil the bunch.
The sheriff's office does think this isn't the first time Cramer has committed sexual assault while on duty. Anyone who could be a victim is asked to call their office.
