Flagler Beach Officer Who Wrongfully Arrested Man Outside Funky Pelican Will Serve 3 Days’ Suspension

An independent investigation of Flagler Beach Police Sgt. Austin Yelvington found him to have violated the city’s arrest procedures last March when he arrested a man who stood outside the Funky Pelican restaurant at the pier, holding a sign supporting homeless veterans. 

Yelvington is to serve a three-day suspension without pay. The city’s police chief, Matt Doughney, issued a public apology to the man, Jeff Gray of St. Augutstine. 

The other Flagler Beach police officer involved in the arrest, Emmett Luttrell, was found to have followed procedures and was not penalized. 

“On behalf of the Flagler Beach Police Department I’d like to issue a public apology to Mr. Gray,” Doughney is quoted as saying in a release he wrote and issued on the city’s Facebook page shortly after this article appeared.  “I cannot go back and change the events that occurred on March 2nd, but since that date we as a department have capitalized on educational
opportunities with regards to First Amendment Rights. We will continue to explore additional training opportunities in the future, so that we can continue the education of our Police Officers on First Amendment rights, so that we can protect the public, their rights and civil liberties moving forward.”

Doughney turned over the investigation of the two officers to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office after the arrest of Gray drew national attention and sharp criticism from city commissioners, and left a blot on the city’s image

“Yelvington had a good record, very professional record leading up to this incident,” City Manager Matt Doughney said, “and yes, it was disappointing on his actions of that day.” 

The Sheriff’s Office’s Chief Mark Strobridge confirmed that the internal affairs investigation was conducted by Cmdr. George Bender, who conducts all IAs at the agency, though he could not remember when it was completed (Strobridge signs off on all internal investigations). It was turned over to Doughney over a week ago. Martin said he received it last week, reviewed it over the past weekend and provided his suggestions to Doughney. He agreed with the term of the suspension. 

“That was the chief’s decision, so I supported that,” he said. Doughney could not be reached before this article initially published. The investigation was requested from both the Sheriff’s Office and Doughney, but not provided before the article appeared. 

Gray, 55, was arrested the morning of March 2 on a felony charge of armed trespassing after holding up a small cardboard sign that read “God Bless the Homeless Vets.” Armed, because he was carrying a gun. (See: “Man Holding ‘God Bless Homeless Vets’ Sign on Public Sidewalk Outside Funky Pelican Arrested on Armed Trespassing Charge.”

There was nothing illegal about carrying the gun. Nor was there anything illegal about what he’d been doing, as it turned out: the State Attorney’s office within four days dropped the charges, and the arrest disappeared from the court docket. 

Based on body cam video, Gray had been standing at the edge of the sidewalk in front of the Funky Pelican, the restaurant at the pier. He was not in the way of customers or people walking along the sidewalk. A Funky Pelican staffer called 911, claiming he was “harassing” people. “I’d just like him trespassed, please,” she said. “He’s harassing all of our guests, and he’s standing out front.” The Funky Pelican has no sidewalk seating. All of its guests are seated inside. 

The first officer who responded, Emmett Luttrell, correctly noted that “what he’s doing, technically, he’s not breaking the law.” The “technically” was not necessary: Gray was not breaking the law, period. The most authorities could do is request that he move down one way or the other. “A simple request,” as Luttrell put it. Gray preferred not to. 

Yelvington, who arrived shortly, saw it differently. “Actually, we can trespass you from here,” Yelvington told Gray, pointing at the sidewalk. “They can’t,” the officer said of Funky Pelican staff (since the sidewalk is public property), “but we can.” Yelvington was technically correct. But Gray would have had to be violating city code or breaking a law to be trespassed. He couldn’t be trespassed just because Yelvingon thought he should be trespassed. 

That’s just what happened. Yelvington arrested Gray, became snide with him (“Let me guess. You’re going to sue me, take me to court, have me arrested, have me fired, the whole nine yards, ain’t you”) and used force to shove Gray’s head into a patrol car. It’s possible Gray may have been putting on a few theatrics. But getting handcuffed and ordered into a patrol car was not his script. 

Yelvington had told Gray that people are trespassed frequently in the city. Documents prove it, the last two years’ records show–and may be of interest to the city commission in light of the Gray incident. 

Yelvington is to serve the suspension in the near future.

The internal affairs investigation found no probable cause for Gray’s arrest but also no “no personal bias or malice.” According to  Doughney’s release, “The investigation also identified a significant weakness in our Department’s ‘Field Training’ of new Police Officers, and that deficiency was at the core of this incident,” an inexplicable conclusion considering that Luttrell, the new recruit, followed procedures, while Yelvington, the veteran, did not.

“The training deficiency has been corrected thanks to detailed information provided by our City Attorney on trespassing and the freedom of speech on public property,” the release went on. It is notable that, following common practice among governments that seek to downplay unflattering news, the release was issued late Friday, a time when most people’s attention is elsewhere.

Gray, a First Amendment advocate, is well known to authorities for purposefully testing public agencies’ compliance with free-speech laws. He posts videos of his frequent encounters with officers on a YouTube channel called HonorYourOath Civil Rights Investigations.

In 2017, in a lengthy New York Times investigation on the shooting death of Michelle O’Connell, the girlfriend of St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputy Jeremy Banks–authorities at the time, after the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office investigated the case instead of handing it to an independent agency and, controversially, ruled the death a suicide–the newspaper reported on Gray holding a protest sign in the lobby of a public building where then Sheriff David Shoar was hosting an annual awards dinner. The sign said O’Connell had been murdered. Shoar had Gray forcibly removed.