\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Orlando police officer who initiated the February 2025 pursuit that ended with the death of 56-year-old Gerald Neal is still employed by the department after the agency disciplined him for three policy violations, WESH 2 Investigates has learned. A surveillance camera from a convenience store on Rio Grande Avenue captured the end of the police chase, showing the suspect\u2019s vehicle hit Neal and crashed into a light post after losing control while turning onto Indiana Street.”Sitting here minding his own business and getting killed by a police chase for somebody else’s wrongdoings,\u201d Neal\u2019s cousin Reggie Brooks told WESH 2, \u201cand he end up losing his life behind a senseless high-speed chase.”According to the Discipline Recommendation memo obtained by WESH 2 Investigates, Officer Christopher Moulton \u201coperated his unmarked vehicle at speeds reaching approximately 90 miles per hour, well beyond what would be considered safe or reasonable for a residential area.”Moulton ran after the suspect he tried stopping for an unreadable license plate. He didn\u2019t realize his police truck came to rest on Neal\u2019s right arm and shoulder.In video from Moulton\u2019s body-worn camera, another officer is heard telling him, \u201cThere was a guy under your truck,\u201d before Moulton replied, \u201cI\u2019ll go check right now.\u201dThe OPD internal investigation found Moulton turned off his emergency lights, and the chase was not authorized.Instead, it violated the department\u2019s pursuit policy that only allows officers to pursue suspects if they were involved in a forcible felony such as murder, armed robbery or kidnapping. “This case was thoroughly investigated by both internal and external agencies,\u201d Orlando Police said in a statement sent to WESH 2 Investigates. \u201cThe officer was also reviewed and cleared by the State Attorney’s Office. Following the full investigation, it was determined that the officer violated department policy. As a result, the officer received discipline consistent with department policy, applicable procedures, and the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights.”Retired Capt. Thomas Gleason is an advisory board member for PursuitSAFETY, a nonprofit that has the mission of preventing tragedies during police pursuits.”When you have one that this bad, then you need to set an example,” Gleason said. “Officers that act outside of policy should be held accountable to a higher standard.”Gleason provides training to law enforcement across the state in hopes of preventing needless deaths to innocent civilians and officers. \u201cWhat I’m working on is the thought processes that go along with pursuits,\u201d Gleason said. \u201cIn other words, as a pursuit goes along, how your thought process diminishes, especially as speed increases.\u201dRecords show Moulton is keeping his job at Orlando PD. During a sworn interview, he said, \u201cI made a poor decision.\u201dWhile he got hit with an 18-day suspension, he opted to give up personal leave time.Gleason told WESH 2 Investigates that Moulton should have received a stiffer punishment. “He got off very, very light for what happened in this situation, especially when we have an individual that has actually been pinned under a vehicle because of not staying with the policy,” Gleason said.Last November, a memo on the decision not to charge Moulton from the State Attorney\u2019s Office said the fleeing suspect caused the injuries that led Neal to die.Thirty-one-year-old Dornell Bargnare faces vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash with death and other charges.Orange County court records show a trial date for Bargnare has been set for late July.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Orlando police officer who initiated the February 2025 pursuit that ended with the death of 56-year-old Gerald Neal is still employed by the department after the agency disciplined him for three policy violations, WESH 2 Investigates has learned. <\/p>\n
A surveillance camera from a convenience store on Rio Grande Avenue captured the end of the police chase, showing the suspect\u2019s vehicle hit Neal and crashed into a light post after losing control while turning onto Indiana Street.<\/p>\n
“Sitting here minding his own business and getting killed by a police chase for somebody else’s wrongdoings,\u201d Neal\u2019s cousin Reggie Brooks told WESH 2, \u201cand he end up losing his life behind a senseless high-speed chase.”<\/p>\n
According to the Discipline Recommendation memo obtained by WESH 2 Investigates, Officer Christopher Moulton \u201coperated his unmarked vehicle at speeds reaching approximately 90 miles per hour, well beyond what would be considered safe or reasonable for a residential area.”<\/p>\n
Moulton ran after the suspect he tried stopping for an unreadable license plate. He didn\u2019t realize his police truck came to rest on Neal\u2019s right arm and shoulder.<\/p>\n
In video from Moulton\u2019s body-worn camera, another officer is heard telling him, \u201cThere was a guy under your truck,\u201d before Moulton replied, \u201cI\u2019ll go check right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OPD internal investigation found Moulton turned off his emergency lights, and the chase was not authorized.<\/p>\n
Instead, it violated the department\u2019s pursuit policy that only allows officers to pursue suspects if they were involved in a forcible felony such as murder, armed robbery or kidnapping. <\/p>\n
“This case was thoroughly investigated by both internal and external agencies,\u201d Orlando Police said in a statement sent to WESH 2 Investigates. \u201cThe officer was also reviewed and cleared by the State Attorney’s Office. Following the full investigation, it was determined that the officer violated department policy. As a result, the officer received discipline consistent with department policy, applicable procedures, and the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights.”<\/p>\n
Retired Capt. Thomas Gleason is an advisory board member for PursuitSAFETY, a nonprofit that has the mission of preventing tragedies during police pursuits.<\/p>\n
“When you have one that this bad, then you need to set an example,” Gleason said. “Officers that act outside of policy should be held accountable to a higher standard.”<\/p>\n
Gleason provides training to law enforcement across the state in hopes of preventing needless deaths to innocent civilians and officers. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I’m working on is the thought processes that go along with pursuits,\u201d Gleason said. \u201cIn other words, as a pursuit goes along, how your thought process diminishes, especially as speed increases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Records show Moulton is keeping his job at Orlando PD. During a sworn interview, he said, \u201cI made a poor decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he got hit with an 18-day suspension, he opted to give up personal leave time.<\/p>\n
Gleason told WESH 2 Investigates that Moulton should have received a stiffer punishment. <\/p>\n
“He got off very, very light for what happened in this situation, especially when we have an individual that has actually been pinned under a vehicle because of not staying with the policy,” Gleason said.<\/p>\n
Last November, a memo on the decision not to charge Moulton from the State Attorney\u2019s Office said the fleeing suspect caused the injuries that led Neal to die.<\/p>\n
Thirty-one-year-old Dornell Bargnare faces vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash with death and other charges.<\/p>\n
Orange County court records show a trial date for Bargnare has been set for late July. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando police officer who initiated the February 2025 pursuit that ended with the death of 56-year-old Gerald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[12775,5507,11853,29978,12115,30113,1224,139,141,140,30131,117685,6333,6272,285,117684,732,918],"class_list":["post-275783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-chase","tag-death","tag-department","tag-gerald-neal","tag-investigates","tag-moulton","tag-officer","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-police-officer","tag-policy-violation","tag-pursuit","tag-state-attorney","tag-suspect","tag-thomas-gleason","tag-vehicle","tag-wesh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}