DeLand police officer fired after investigation of ‘troubling’ conduct, use of force in 2017 arrest

A DeLand police officer was fired Monday after an investigation into his behavior during a 2017 arrest — captured on video — that state investigators found “troubling and inappropriate.”

The officer, 32-year-old Johan Mulero, “engaged in conduct unbecoming of a police officer [and] made an unlawful arrest” that led to a lawsuit against the city, according to a statement by DeLand police Chief Jason Umberger, who said the department did not become aware of the conduct until 10 months afterward.

Mulero, hired in February 2013, “used unnecessary and/or excessive force to [make] an arrest that lacked any probable cause and therefore any legal basis,” Umberger said.

Mulero could not be reached for comment.

While the arrest occurred on Sept. 14, 2017, Umberger said it wasn’t until July 26, 2018, that the department learned there was a full-length video of the incident — a development brought to the department’s attention during a lawsuit filed on behalf of the man arrested, Allan Kidd. The suit has since been settled for an undisclosed sum, city spokesman Chris Graham said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also reviewed the video at Umberger’s direction and found no criminal charges were warranted against the officer, the chief said, although the investigators were critical of the officer’s behavior.

“The subsequent internal affairs investigation found that Mulero engaged in conduct unbecoming of a police officer,” Umberger said. “Further, his conduct violated our departmental code of conduct, our mission statement and our core values.”