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Pinellas Deputy Accused of Attempted Manslaughter

Virden | Pinellas Sheriff | Deputy

The charge arose from a Dec. 30 incident in which the deputy shot a suspect during a traffic stop in Madeira Beach.

PINELLAS COUNTY – The Pinellas County sheriff arrested a deputy Friday (Jan. 29) morning and charged him with attempted manslaughter.

Arrested was Timothy Virden, who has worked for the Pinellas sheriff since January 2007. Virden was also fired from his job with the Sheriff’s Office.

“I have an obligation to our deputies but I have a larger obligation to the citizens we serve, the office of sheriff and its integrity, the law enforcement profession as a whole and, of utmost importance, upholding the public’s trust placed in us in performing our duties,” Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during a press conference announcing the charge.

The arrest came after three investigations into a Dec. 30 traffic stop in Madeira Beach in which a Gulfport man, Dylan M. Tompkins-Holmes, 26, was shot and injured after he was arrested during a traffic stop. Gualtieri said the investigations found that the shooting was not justified.

The sheriff’s office described the situation:

Deputies stopped Tompkins-Holmes about 3:04 a.m. on Dec. 15 near near the intersection of 129th Avenue East and Village Boulevard in Madeira Beach. Around 3:20 a.m. Virden shot Tompkins-Holmes after arresting him on a misdemeanor charge of obstruction. Tompkins-Holmes was handcuffed at the time.

Subsequently, the sheriff’s robbery and homicide unit conducted an investigation into the shooting and determined that Virden was not justified in shooting Tompkins-Holmes. The Sheriff’s Office ‘Use of Deadly Force Review Board’ conducted its own independent review of the shooting and also determined that the shooting was not justified under law or agency policy. The case was subsequently reviewed and investigated by the State Attorney’s Office and presented to a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge who found probable cause to charge Virden with one count of attempted manslaughter.

Gualtieri’s press conference can be seen at youtube.com. For information about the Pinellas sheriff, go to pcsoweb.com.

Photo of Timothy Virden courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff.

Pinellas Sheriff | Bob Gualtieri | Deputy Charged | Deputy Arrested | Virden | TB Reporter

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