Arlington officer convicted of assaulting fellow officers

Judge Thomas Gallahue reduced one of Officer Michele Florio’s charges, sexual battery, to an assault charge, and convicted him of three counts of assault and battery. Florio will serve a year’s probation and must pay $1,000.

Florio, 28, didn’t deny that he kissed the two officers. He claimed that he had flirted with both women last summer and neither had protested. But the women described aggressive, unwelcomed behavior which humiliated them, and a judge agreed.

Florio met the first victim in an office at Fire Station 2 Aug. 31, where she was working on the computer. Both parties agreed he approached her from behind and kissed her twice. She said she pushed him away and swore at him. He said she didn't protest and hugged him before he left.

Five days later, Florio and the second victim investigated a ringing alarm at an optometrist's office in Clarendon. He kissed her twice behind the building, both said.

Florio described both kisses as “pecks.” The victim said Florio bent her backward in the alley, held her down and kissed her while she screeched and struggled. A chef at a neighboring club was bewildered by what he saw on his cigarette break.

“It looked like the (male) officer was arresting someone at first, there was a struggle,” David Schoetz said. He debated calling the police, then realized they were both officers. “It was really odd.”

Florio is on administrative leave from the police department, where he has served three years. He received a valor award after rescuing people in a burning building on Columbia Pike on Christmas 2005. He served seven years in the military, including six months in Iraq.

Florio’s attorney, James Devita, argued that both women implied consent to Florio’s advances because they didn’t protest. The second victim wasn’t upset with Florio because she met him after the kisses, Devita said. She admitted meeting Florio after his improper advances, but said she wanted an explanation and apology.