Pinellas Deputy Arrested After Domestic Dispute

PALM HARBOR, FL — A Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy faces two criminal charges after his fellow deputies received a domestic violence report from a Palm Harbor home on Tuesday.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies responded to the home just before 10 p.m. Jan. 10. When they arrived, they learned there had been a domestic dispute between Deputy John Farese and his former girlfriend.

"Deputies say that Farese grabbed the victim's wrist during a struggle for the victim's cellular phone that caused the victim to fall on the ground,” an email from the agency said. “Farese then took the victim's cellular phone when she communicated her intention to call 911 and report the incident.”

Deputies say the woman was holding the couple’s 22-month-old child during the dispute. The child was not injured, but the woman suffered minor injuries to her wrist and knee.

Farese, who was hired by the agency in July 2016, was charged with one count of domestic battery and one count of tampering with a witness.

No further information is being released at this time.

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