BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A judge sided with a Palm Bay police officer, even though two women claimed Officer Donovan Brickhouse told them to take off their tops if they wanted to avoid trouble with the law. A Brevard County woman asked a judge Tuesday to grant a restraining order against Brickhouse, but the judge didn't feel it was warranted.
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After the decision, Michelle Gamble told WFTV she will be meeting with police to push for an internal affairs investigation.
"He told me to lift my bra up," Gamble said in court.
Gamble broke down while repeating her claims that Brickhouse forced her to expose her chest in January while he was searching her home for prescription pills. Brickhouse showed up at her home on Pollack Avenue after her boyfriend called police during an argument. Gamble filed a complaint and then said Brickhouse showed up again.
"Just started screaming and I didn't understand and I was scared because he's in uniform again at my house," she explained.
The lieutenant in charge of internal affairs said Brickhouse did not know of the complaint filed against him when he returned to check on Gamble and her boyfriend the following week.
Gamble's attorney brought in Karen Giesy, who swore she met Brickhouse at a gym two years ago. Giesy testified he then pulled her over three times and made similar demands.
"He asked me to show him my breasts and he wouldn't give me a ticket and I said, 'You're joking right?'" Giesy described.
But Giesy never filed a complaint. Under oath, Brickhouse said he never met Giesy and didn't even go to the same gym. As for Gamble, Brickhouse said he never forced her to expose herself.
"Did you take her back into her bedroom?" Brickhouse was asked.
"No, sir," he replied.
"You had her take her blouse off didn't you?" he was asked.
"No, sir," Brickhouse replied.
After a 4-hour hearing, the judge said, since the officer never came in contact with Gamble on the second visit, it didn't qualify as harassment and turned down the restraining order.
Brickhouse has never had any complaints, discipline or internal affairs investigations until now.
Previous Stories: February 11, 2011: Woman Wants Restraining Order Against Cop
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