SARASOTA COUNTY — A Sarasota County sheriff's sergeant is on suspension after internal investigators found that he improperly entered a residence after the owner twice told him he could not.

Sgt. Dan Tutko entered a house in the 7100 block of Point of Rocks Road because he took the woman's silence to his third request to enter the home as consent, internal affairs reports state.

But the law states that is not consent to search a home, the investigation concluded. Tutko was doing a follow-up investigation on a tampering with a witness case.

A March 25 Sheriff's Office memorandum also says the sheriff wants to demote Tutko to deputy from sergeant. Tutko was ordered off duty March 12.

A summary of the internal affairs report indicates that Tutko has previously been disciplined for making an inappropriate comment and failing to enter seized license plates into property.

Tutko was severely injured in 2001 when he pulled over a vehicle on Tuttle Avenue and the driver fled.

Tutko reached into the car and grabbed the driver's neck, and the car sped off at 40 mph, records show.

Tutko was hospitalized for two weeks and later was awarded the Legion of Honor medal in connection with the event.

Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chuck Lesaltato on Wednesday declined to release any records about Tutko's most recent discipline case, or about Tutko's employment with the Sheriff's Office.

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