A Fort Lauderdale police officer was arrested Saturday on charges of attacking his pregnant girlfriend, then asking her to “negate everything” when he received a suspension over the assault, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Fort Lauderdale Police arrested Officer Timothy Skaggs, 39, on the following charges: one count of aggravated battery on a pregnant victim, one count of false imprisonment, two counts of battery, two counts of tampering with a witness, and two counts of robbery by sudden snatching.
He is on administrative leave with pay “pending formal charges filed by the State Attorney’s Office,” according to Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Bill Schultz.
Skaggs had arrived at the Fort Lauderdale apartment he shared with his girlfriend of two years on Friday, the night before his arrest, where she confronted him about him continuing to have a relationship with his wife and told him she wanted to end things, according to the affidavit. When he told her he had signed divorce papers, she told him he was lying, then threatened to call his wife.
He then grabbed the phone from her and pushed her down on the bed, according to the affidavit, refusing to give it back when she asked for it. At one point, he pinned her down and used her own fist to hit her face three times. When she screamed for him to get off, he put his hands over her mouth. Later, he grabbed her neck with both hands, enough to hurt her but not to block her airways, she told police.
The woman’s two young children were also home at the time. When she asked her daughter for the girl’s phone, since Skaggs had taken hers, he also took her daughter’s phone from her, according to the affidavit. At one point, when she tried to leave, he pulled her back inside by her shirt. Finally, she managed to ask her son to call the police.
Skaggs had his Fort Lauderdale Police uniform on and “was on duty,” his girlfriend said. He had left in his police cruiser by the time officers arrived at the home.
That night, the girlfriend had also informed Skaggs that she was several weeks’ pregnant, according to the affidavit.
The girlfriend did not have any visible injuries from the attack, though she told police that it was not the first time Skaggs had attacked her. She said that he had beat and strangled her in the recent past and that she had pictures of her bruises. She said she wanted to prosecute.
Detectives interviewed the girlfriend’s daughter, who said she heard her mother screaming for the phone and that it was not the first time “this type of incident” had occurred, according to the affidavit.
The next morning, Skaggs went into Fort Lauderdale Police headquarters to give a statement, in which he said he “did not know why he was here” besides having been told to go in by his chain of command, according to the afifdavit. When informed about his girlfriend’s allegations, he denied ever attacking her and said that she had hit him three times, rather than the other way around. He had no bruises or marks on his face, but said that “he is 6’3 and he would not have any bruises to his face,” the affidavit states.
Later, police returned to the apartment to help the woman collect her belongings, at which point she received several calls from a number with no caller ID. When she picked up and placed the call on speaker, the officer who was with her recognized Skaggs’ voice.
“Call them now. I’m begging you, call them now,” Skaggs had said. “I’m on a 180-day suspension. Negate everything. Negate everything. Say you were drinking. I don’t know but call them now,” according to the affidavit.
On Monday, two days after the arrest, Fort Lauderdale Police also filed a petition for a risk protection order against Skaggs.
“The alleged behavior will not be tolerated and is not representative of the men and women of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department,” Chief Schultz said in a statement. “Despite this incident, we will continue to provide our community with a high level of service, which aligns with our values, policies and procedures.”
This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
Originally Published: