No charges have been filed
The 19-year-old son of a Brevard County Sheriff's top deputy remains under investigation nearly two weeks after a Titusville traffic stop uncovered a small amount of cocaine in his shoe and his father's personal handgun in his car. Jonathan Michael Lewis of Port St. John, son of Chief Deputy Mike Lewis, was given a warning ticket Aug. 25 -- because his Honda Civic had dark-tinted windows -- when he was stopped with three friends on U.S. 1 at Riveredge Drive. He has not been charged with any drug or weapons violations.
Titusville police said Lewis was not given any special treatment because of his father's law enforcement status. The handgun was not department-issued, officials said. The officer who stopped the car wrote in a report that he smelled marijuana coming from the car. He ordered Lewis to step out of the car and asked if he had any drugs or weapons. Lewis said no but also refused the officer consent to search the car. The officers then used a drug-sniffing dog and that led officers to marijuana inside the car, reports show. Officers then searched Lewis and found a small plastic bag with what later was determined to be 2 grams cocaine, and they found a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun under the driver's seat.
A short time after the discovery, the officer collecting the evidence was told by a superior that Lewis would be released to Brevard County Sheriff's West Precinct Cmdr. Mike Scully, listed in the incident report as a family friend. The officers then decided to hold charges pending further investigation, officials said.
Titusville Police Chief Tony Bollinger confirmed that officers did contact Chief Deputy Lewis to report the incident and referred the case to the agency's vice squad for further investigation. "I've got complete confidence that the officers at the scene handled it fairly and consistently. Chief Deputy Lewis was called because there was a gun his son said belonged to his dad. In our eyes (the chief deputy) was a father," Bollinger said. Bollinger said he believed the officers' actions to contact Chief Deputy Lewis as a concerned parent were "typical" but added that each case was different.
He also added that if officers come across other teens involved with drugs or in similar situations, they can use discretion to contact parents if the suspects show remorse or display a cooperative attitude. "It's easy to want to look at things in black and white or in absolutes but that doesn't resolve a situation. He's being treated as if he were Joe Smith's son and one thing had nothing to do with the other."
Bollinger said he had not read the incident report, had only a cursory knowledge of the case and had no contact with Lewis or anyone else with the sheriff's office about the case. Deputy Chief Lewis was adamant that he did not pressure police for any special favors involving his son. He also said that his family was coping with his son's situation. "This is a private family matter between me, my wife and our adult son. This is not related to the sheriff's office in anyway," Lewis said when contacted.
Brevard County Sheriff Jack Parker said he had been in contact with Lewis about the case and that there was no undue influence used on the part of the chief deputy. "When I think of someone with a strong reputation for doing the right thing I think of Mike Lewis. I haven't heard any facts that would point to any misconduct in this case," Parker said.
No charges have been filed
