Federal Officer Accused of Beating Ex-Girl in Key West Drops Dispute, Lawyer Says
KEY WEST, Florida. — A federal law enforcement officer accused of stalking and beating his ex-girlfriend in Key West pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges on Wednesday and was released from jail, his lawyer told Local 10 News.
According to his lawyer Daniel Levin, 38-year-old Scott Dale Hatfield, a US Customs and Border Protection officer, did not contest charges of simple battery and disorderly conduct. He was initially charged with battery and stalking.
Jury selection in the case was scheduled to begin on Monday, according to court records.
On Thursday, Levine released a statement following the statement, noting that Hatfield was “released from custody after an ordeal” and stated in part:
“Mr Hatfield said he was refusing to challenge the ‘mere beating’ and disorderly allegations because it was in his best interest to get out of the prison in which he likely placed some of its current inmates. It was a matter of safety for him as the ruling serves as proof that Mr. Hatfield is not some kind of stalker who violates injunctions, and therefore should not have been in prison in the first place. The stalking charge was dropped, and a second case in which he was arrested for violating an injunction was dropped. Discussions with CBP regarding his employment are ongoing. No further comment on his current status.”
Daniel Levine, Hatfield’s attorney
Original accusations
Hatfield was arrested by Key West officers on May 31 after his ex told officers that he followed her to a gym near Winn-Dixie at 2778 N. Roosevelt Boulevard. According to a police report, he later held her car door open and twice pushed her in as she tried to get out.
According to police, Hatfield only stopped after a nearby construction crew started yelling at Hatfield and he left.
Police said the woman approached Winn-Dixie and called 911. The woman’s shoulders were “reddish,” the investigator wrote, “indicating she had been pushed hard.”
Police said Hatfield admitted to following his ex to her car and said he put his hand in the car door to keep the woman from closing it. He told officers that he threw his arms out preemptively after the woman said she would “kick him in the balls,” the report said.
“Hetfield stated that he had beaten (a woman),” the investigator wrote.
The report said Hatfield’s ex-girlfriend later showed officers screenshots showing he called her 11 times on Monday and showed officers a string of text messages sent after the woman told him to stop texting her or she would call the police.
The woman said she “feared Hatfield because he showed up at her house unannounced in his CBP uniform, trying to get her to talk to him,” police wrote in the report, saying the woman had to “repeatedly” ask him to leave.
Hatfield was later arrested twice more, once on June 6 after authorities charged him with violating a protection order, and again on June 8 on a failure to appear charge, after which a Monroe County judge vacated his bail.
CBP officials said Hatfield was assigned to “administrative duties” following his first arrest. A spokesman said the agency did not have an update on its current status.
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