JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville officer who injured a man during a traffic stop in December 2024 has been fired, JSO announced Tuesday. Officer Mindy Cardwell pulled the motorist over after he reportedly ran a red light on North Main Street near 27th Street in Brentwood on Dec. 13.
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Jason Arrington, the motorist, told Action News Jax he was ordered out of his vehicle when he made officers aware that he had a firearm. “She tugged on the gun the first time then she tugged again,” Arrington said about Cardwell. “And that’s when I told her, ‘Let me unloosen my belt because it’s tight.’”
He said that the officer pulled even harder and that’s when the gun went off. The bullet hit him in the upper thigh. “The Internal Affairs investigation resulted in a sustained charge of incompetence against Officer Cardwell and JSO has begun termination proceedings for Officer Cardwell,” the sheriff’s office posted on social media Tuesday.
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What happened to Arrington resulted in JSO changing it’s policy in dealing with people they encounter who are legally armed.
JSO released a memorandum on Dec. 18 detailing how officers should deal with someone carrying a concealed weapon. In that memorandum, it said officers “should not seize a firearm from someone lawfully carrying it.”
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