Threats Against Wife Leads To Arrest Of Pinellas Sheriff's Deputy

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — A Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy was arrested after being accused of sending electronic threats to his wife to kill or do bodily harm.

On May 4, Deputy Marquis Fitzgerald, 31, was placed on administrative leave without pay after an investigation began concerning text messages Fitzgerald sent to his wife concerning infidelity issues.

The sheriff's office said Fitzgerald sent his wife photos of showing target silhouettes riddled with bullet holes and insinuated he would harm the person with whom his wife was having an affair.

The sheriff said Fitzgerald also sent a text message to his mother-in-law stating, "Come get your daughter before I kill her."

The sheriff's office determined that Fitzgerald's actions did not constitute a crime at that time and there was no probable cause for his arrest. Nonetheless, when Fitzgerald was placed on administrative leave for agency policy violations, all of his agency-issued firearms were collected from him, he was required to surrender his agency credentials, and any authority to act as a deputy sheriff was revoked.

While Fitzgerald was still on unpaid administrative leave, detectives learned that on May 27 Fitzgerald sent a video to his wife that he found on the internet depicting a man and woman engaged in sexual intercourse in a bedroom when a fully clothed man walked in with a large knife and began stabbing the man and woman after apparently catching the woman cheating on him.

Fitzgerald sent messages to his wife with the video stating, "I just wanted you to see what some people do when that happens. There are crazy people in this world."

Fitzgerald then told his wife to delete the video and related messages.

On May 31, detectives arrested Fitzgerald for the felony offense of threatening physical harm or death.

He was taken to the Pinellas County Jail without incident. While at the jail, the Administrative Investigations Division told Fitzgerald that he was also the subject of an administrative investigation for additional policy violations.

Fitzgerald chose to resign from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in lieu of termination.