SOUTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — A South Palm Beach police officer, who resigned shortly after being charged with stalking and installing an electronic tracking device, is now facing a lawsuit in connection to the allegations, court records show.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in Palm Beach County, names both former South Palm Beach Officer Jose Fernandez and the town of South Palm Beach as defendants.
Misdemeanor criminal charges were filed last August against Fernandez accusing him of placing a GPS device on the car of a woman he allegedly had an affair with, according to the criminal complaint. The arrest report says the woman was approached on three separate occasions by Fernandez after the alleged affair ended.
WPTV is not naming the woman who filed the lawsuit earlier this week.
The lawsuit contains new allegations against Fernandez, incidents that allegedly occurred while employed as a police officer with the town of South Palm Beach.
The lawsuit claims that the former police chief, the mayor and the town manager all found out Fernandez was "watching pornographic videos" and performing lewd acts in his patrol car while on duty.
It also alleges Fernandez "was sleeping almost entirely during his midnight shift outside the town limits of South Palm Beach, while in the Town Hall of Manalapan," on or around March 8, 2017, and dashboard video captured the incident.
A Manalapan police sergeant told the plaintiff, "Fernandez was afforded the opportunity to come in the Police Station "office" and "sleep" while on duty," the filing claims.
Around the same time, the lawsuit claims Fernandez was meeting with three officers from another department, and dashboard video captured officers "discussing Officer Fernandez's needs to beat someone up and/or choke them."
WPTV reached out to both the Town of South Palm Beach and an attorney representing Fernandez for comment, as well as the Town of Manalapan, and is waiting to hear back.
Fernandez pleaded not guilty to both misdemeanor charges, though court records show a plea conference scheduled for March 13.