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Officer Accused Of Battery Relieved Of Duty

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando police officer arrested for squeezing a lactating woman's breast outside a nightclub was relieved of duty without pay Friday. Eyewitness News found out that the Orlando Police Department is also being sued by Ana-Maria Hazleton over Officer Brandon Loverde's behavior in another case. He's accused of beating up two women at a house party.

The suit was filed two weeks ago. Hazleton says officer Loverde used excessive force when he and other officers responded to a call at her home on Mother's Day in 2007 and she was placed under arrest.

EXPLICIT: Victim's Complaint | Arrest Affidavit EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Officer Turns Self Into Jail READ: Warrant Affidavit | Incident Report OFFICER LEAVES JAIL: Watch Video | See Images

During that incident over two years ago, a neighbor called police when she saw Hazleton's son playing around with a friend on the front yard and thought it was a fight. When Loverde arrived on scene and Ana-Maria Hazleton questioned the officer, she said he threw her down on the ground and arrested her son and her friend.

Loverde said in a police report that Ana-Maria Hazleton jumped on the officers' backs and assaulted them. The state dropped the charges against the three people. Hazelton does not have prior arrest.

Officer Brandon Loverde bonded out of jail (raw video | images) Thursday (warrant affidavit) on the charges he groped a woman outside a downtown Orlando nightclub. Eyewitness News was the only station there when Loverde turned himself in at the Orange County jail (watch video) just after 8:30am Thursday. Reporter Kathi Belich attempted to talk to him, but he had no comment. He was handcuffed while waiting for his fingerprints to be cleared through Orange County Corrections and then released on the $5,500 bond.

The arrest affidavit says Officer Loverde told the woman to walk over to a parking lot across the street from Firestone Live on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando (see map). Security video, the report says, shows her sitting down between cars, just as she said the officer told her to do.

Three-year Orlando police officer Brandon Loverde is out on $5,500 bond facing felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery charges.

Orlando's police chief told Eyewitness News if Loverde is found guilty he'll be fired.

Previous Stories: January 7, 2010: Cop Accused Of Groping New Mom Outside Downtown Club January 7, 2010: Officer Accused Of Battery To Turn Self In