City official in domestic disturbance
City Commissioner Arturo “Art” Otero was involved in domestic disturbance a week ago after arguing with his wife outside a Kissimmee bar, police reports show.
A police report described Otero, who has announced he’s running for mayor next year, as intoxicated when he showed up at Kissimmee police headquarters Nov. 14 looking for his wife, Annabel. He became angry when told police were investigating why she had a lump larger than a golf ball on her forehead.
“Commissioner Otero then again raised his voice and told us that he was a city commissioner, that he signed our paychecks, and that we should be on the streets looking for crimi-
nals instead of wasting his time trying to make something out of nothing,” a report stated.
Reached Monday morning, Otero would not comment. He was not charged in the incident.
Otero was first elected to the City Commission in 2008. He ran unsuccessfully for state representative in 2012 but was elected back to the City Commission in 2014.
Otero’s wife sought refuge at the Police Department around 1:15 a.m. after arguing with her husband, records state.
“She was dancing with a male friend of theirs. Otero became jealous and they began to argue,” records state. “They left the establishment toward home and the argument continued in the car. Annabel said that she did not want to argue anymore, so she got out of the car.”
Art Otero subsequently flagged down a police lieutenant asking for help to find his wife. Otero suggested she might have walked to the police station, where she has worked for many years as a secretary, and the lieutenant gave him a ride there, records state.
That’s where the couple encountered each other and immediately started arguing, records show. Police described her also as intoxicated and that she held an ice bag to her injured forehead.
“Annabel then told me she was upset that Otero came to the police department and was upstairs,” Sgt. Stacey Baseggio wrote. “I asked her why and she replied, ‘I’m supposed to be safe here.’ ”
Annabel Otero denied being hit by her husband and said she might have hurt herself falling out of the moving car. Baseggio wrote the injury was not consistent with such a fall, which generally involves multiple bruises and abrasions that she did not have.
“That’s why they separated them immediately,” police spokeswoman Stacie Miller said Monday. “At that point the lieutenant had no idea there had been a domestic incident.”
Carol Wick, head of domestic-violence prevention at Harbor House of Central Florida, said Kissimmee police should review their handling of the Otero case.
“If you’ve got someone intoxicated who is looking for his wife, your first question is, ‘Why is your wife missing?’ ” Wick said. “There really needs to be an internal-affairs investigation.”
It’s particularly important to separate and interview couples if they have been drinking and there are signs of violence, Wick said.
“That’s a serious reason for pause,” Wick said, explaining why police departments have domestic-violence protocols to make sure cases are handled consistently.
The situation that night was so tense, another police supervisor rushed from a nearby office in the station after hearing Lt. Jaime Alberti radio a sergeant on the street, asking her to respond quickly.
“As I came out of the Street Crimes Unit office I noticed Commissioner Otero standing in the hallway by the break room,” Sgt. Wilson Munoz wrote of seeing and hearing Otero disregard several orders to leave the area. “At this point Commissioner Otero raised his voice and in a stern voice told Lieutenant Alberti that he was going to get in trouble for trying to make something out of nothing.”
Otero is a Democrat and evangelical Christian who once served as a missionary. He drew attention in 2009 for attempting to add “In God We Trust” to the city logo, worried that Kissimmee was taking “liberal postures such as homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana.”
Though commissioners didn’t approve the move, city voters later decided to add the phrase to the city’s logo.
“If you’ve got someone intoxicated who is looking for his wife, your first question is, ‘Why is your wife missing?’ ”
Carol Wick, Harbor House of Central Florida