2015/11/09
There is no doubt – love is blind, and it can make you do strange things. In fact, for a veteran FBI agent it made him believe he was above the law. Even the bureau found him in the wrong, but they believe he should remain in service.
A jury at the Montgomery County Court found him guilty of second-degree assault.
Two hours late…
Last year Gerald John Rogero was in a relationship with a woman who had a one-year-old daughter.
On December 5, 2014 the officer’s girlfriend was expecting to take custody of the child. As part of the arrangement her father, Edward Moawad was meant to drop her off.
Rogero and his partner had been waiting for the father to arrive with the toddler. The officer was off duty and in plain clothes.
Moawad was late; around 11 PM he walked into the woman’s apartment building lobby holding their daughter. As soon as he stepped foot on the premises, the FBI officer reminded him of the fact the mother had been waiting over two hours.
He handed the child to her mother and walked outside.
Also with Moawad were his fiancée and her 15-year-old son from another relationship.
Outside Rogero proceeded to tell Moawad that he had been discourteous by turning up late.
“Don’t make me shoot you”
A cell phone video shows what happened next.
The FBI officer can be heard talking to someone another person in the crowd.
His exact words were: “You’re going to get yourself locked up, so don’t act so stupid.”
It turns out he was addressing Moawad’s fiancé’s teenage son.
A scuffle then ensues.
The boy confronts the agent, but Rogero uses an open hand to push him in the chest – the impact is enough to send him flying backwards before falling down on the pavement.
The startled boy gets up and walks up to the agent one more time, despite his mother’s efforts to stop him.
Rogero then tells the boy that he is under arrest.
Then, he is heard threatening the teenager.
“If I have to shoot you I will, don’t make me shoot you,” he can be heard saying.
Another physical fight ensues between the two and Rogero pulls out his hand gun and tells the boy to put his hands on his head and lie down on the ground.
His mother by now is visibly distraught, but the agent tells her that he would take her into custody as well.
Then referring to the teenager lying on the ground he says: “He got in my space and he threatened me. I’m in my capacity 24 hours a day.”
It is unclear from the video whether he had identified himself as an FBI agent.
Rogero has served in the department for almost 20 years and is a chief in the counterterrorism division.
The bureau says it is carrying out its own investigation into the matter.
Watch the video below: