State attorney's office taking closer look at Clermont cops

CLERMONT, Fla. — Eyewitness News discovered Friday the state attorney's office is taking a closer look at two Clermont cops.

An assistant state attorney in Lake County just pulled the personnel files of Cecil Garrett and James Rooney, who were previously under investigation, but were cleared.

The reason remains a mystery.

Attorney Derek Brett represents Garrett and Rooney.

He said he thinks the requests could be part of ongoing alleged retaliation against them.

"I hope they abandoned their efforts before this goes any further," Brett said.

In 2009, they were among five officers who complained to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement about then-police chief Stephen Graham.

All were reprimanded.

Brett said he is puzzled as to what the state attorney's office is looking for.

Both officers were once under separate investigations.

Garrett was accused of lying about a traffic stop, but an arbitrator ruled he never did. He got his job back in April.

Rooney was cleared in a shooting in a playground in which a man died.

A police department spokesman told WFTV the records of both officers are currently clean.

"What type of society do we live in when whistle-blowers are retaliated against?" Brett said.

Brett believes the former chief might be behind the requests.

"This is not the way we play with our justice system. This is not the way you play with good cops," Brett said.

State attorney Brad King told Channel 9's Ryan Hughes over the phone that he hasn't seen Graham in years and said he wouldn't discuss anything about the requests.

WFTV