The St. Petersburg police officer cited for speeding in a crash that killed a wheelchair-bound man has lost his job.
St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon announced Thursday that Officer Mehmedin Karic, 26, had been fired. The announcement came with two other police employees leaving their jobs also.
Officer Alex Falcon-Molina resigned after being accused of a series of work violations. And police information technology worker Anthony Neese was let go over a dispute about damaged work equipment.
Harmon said the employees let go did not follow department rules.
According to a department report, Officer Karic, 26, was cited for careless driving due to his speed of 61 mph in a 40 mph zone when he hit Harold Fleming, 45, around 4:20 a.m. on Feb. 19.
Fleming was hit at 38th Avenue North and 64th Street North, and was pronounced dead moments later. Karic was not injured.
According to Bay News 9's partner newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, Karic pleaded guilty to a careless driving citation in June, and was fined $1,000, ordered to serve 100 hours of community service, and had his driver's license suspended for six months.
He was fired for violating traffic laws and for driving carelessly.
Officials said Falcon-Molina, 27, resigned before police officials could decide to suspend or fire him. Neese, 46, was accused of damaging a laptop during an argument with his wife. An investigation into the incident also determined Neese used the police laptop to view pornography, officials said.