Orange County deputy under criminal investigation after report of domestic violence

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County sheriff's deputy is under criminal investigation following a report of domestic violence.

According to an injunction petition filed against David Burdick in Orange County, the 911 call reporting the abuse came in on May 28.

Burdick is a corporal with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and 1st vice president for the local Fraternal Order of Police.

In the petition, filed immediately after the incident, Burdick’s accuser alleges several months of abuse.

Specifically she includes a picture of the accuser’s bruised and swollen eye, which she states occurred when Burdick "came home and was mad [she] had had a drink and didn't start cooking right away," then "punched [her] in the right eye."

“As a former prosecutor, looking at this photograph and the evidence, ordinarily, someone would've gone to jail that night,” said WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer.

According to the petition, the accuser spoke to deputies several times that night from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. and wondered “why they were there so long."

Since that night, WFTV has found no record of the Orange County Sheriff's Office arresting Burdick that night or in the weeks after.

When WFTV first questioned the Sheriff's Office about this nearly four weeks ago, officials told us Burdick had been placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation, per policy when handling complaints of this type.

The sheriff's office confirmed Wednesday that Burdick is under criminal investigation as well.

Officials there told us if in the course of their investigation they determined laws have been broken, charges will be filed or an arrest made.

But Sheaffer says that's not how the process typically works.

“Since there was no probable cause arrest that night, the evidence should have been forwarded to the state attorney's office by now for them to decide whether criminal charges should be filed or not,” said Sheaffer.

The state attorney’s office told WFTV that at last check, they still hadn’t received any paperwork on this case.

A search for any case information using the case number the accuser says deputies gave her the night she called 911 fails to return a single record for the incident.

According to the clerk, there’s another hearing coming up to consider a permanent injunction against Burdick. That’s set for July 3.

WFTV did reach out to Burdick for a response, but he said he has no comment.

Cox Media Group