LCSO deputy gets option to quit or be fired

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Fired or resign? We’ve uncovered exclusive new information on a story about a Lee County Sheriff’s deputy we first broke last night on WINK News.

The deputy is off the job after giving a homeowner the scare of his life. The homeowner says the deputy was intoxicated, threatened his family, and made crude comments about his wife. So, why was that deputy allowed to resign after his boss said he should be fired?

“Resign or be fired” – we’ve all heard the phrase. Most people choose to resign, as did Sergeant Anthony Milillo of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, a sergeant who’s job it is to train other Lee County Sheriff’s deputies.

“This is a law enforcement officer who’s alleged to have engaged in all kinds of different illegal activity and some poor homeowner got the fright of their life…..and it’s not even Halloween yet,” said Estero employment attorney Benjamin Yormak. He reviewed a Lee County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs Report about a bizarre incident that happened on August 24 at a home on Barbara Court in Lehigh Acres.

The homeowner said a man showed up outside his home and……went wild. It turned out to be a Lee County Sheriff’s Sergeant named Anthony Milillo, who’s job it is to train other deputies. The homeowner said Milillo appeared to be intoxicated and told him, “he wasn’t somebody I wanted to mess with.” Milillo then asked the homeowner what he would do if, “I scr**ed your wife and killed your kids?” The homeowner says Milillo then started chasing him around his front yard and apparently thought he was in some kinds of a training scenario.

After an Internal Affairs investigation, Sheriff Mike Scott decided Milillo should be fired. However, the next day Milillo sent an email to Scott saying he wants to resign instead and that’s what he was allowed to do.

Yormak says this is common, but here’s the problem, “On any future job applications he’s going to be able to say he resigned. This is certainly a case where we hope the employer would dig a little deeper for the safety of the citizens.” Yormak also says a future business could be affected, “it could expose a potential employer to liability. That future employer’s taking on a big risk by employing this gentleman because if that employer gets sued for conduct by this gentleman that’s similar, there’s gonna be a negligent hiring claim.”

WINK News asked the Lee County Sheriff’s Office the following questions:

– How many employees have been fired in 2015?
– How many employees have been afforded the opportunity to resign in lieu of being fired in 2015?
– Does an employee who resigns in lieu of being fired still receive their pension?

The sheriff’s office response to WINK News was:
“Dave, your station has been provided the documents for this case. We are not under obligation to answer questions.”