Lexington police officer gets 5-week suspension. Find out why

A Lexington police officer is serving a five-week unpaid suspension for failing to follow orders and swearing at suspects.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted Oct. 9 to approve the suspension for officer Adam Cervasio for two different instances. The first was a four-week suspension for misconduct, insubordination and unsatisfactory performance stemming from a June 22 incident involving a stolen car.

A second one-week suspension was for misconduct when he swore at an intoxicated suspect at a local hospital on July 18.

Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers told the council during the Oct. 9 meeting Cervasio had agreed to the five-week unpaid suspension.

According to police disciplinary records obtained through a Kentucky Open Records Act request released to the Herald-Leader Tuesday, Cervasio was told by his supervisor not to pursue a stolen car in the area of Pemberton Street.

The suspect in the car had fled from officers twice that day, according to police records. Lexington police do not conduct high-speed car chases unless there is an immediate threat to someone’s life or safety.

Cervasio and another officer continued to pursue the vehicle, which eventually crashed after it turned the wrong-way down a one-way street. Cervasio then swore at the suspect when the suspect asked a question, documents show. He also offered Narcan, the commercial name for naloxone which reverses drug overdoses, to the suspect even after fire department emergency personnel said it was not necessary and a waste of Narcan, the documents said.

On July 14, Cervasio lost his temper again with an intoxicated suspect at a hospital, police disciplinary records show.

The suspect, who was handcuffed at the time and under arrest, taunted Cervasio several times and at one point tried to kick Cervasio, body-camera footage reviewed by police investigators show.

The suspect said, “F**k you.” to Cervasio, who then responded, “F**k you” to the suspect. Cervasio immediately apologized, the footage shows.

According to police disciplinary records, Cervasio has been in trouble with his supervisors before for tardiness and poor time management skills. Cervasio had recently changed from second to first shifts, which contributed to his tardiness, he told his supervisors.

Supervisors had also raised concerns that it would sometimes take Cervasio four or five hours to complete one report.

“There were other similar instances and each time Cervasio said that was how long it took to complete the report,” according to a summary included in the disciplinary records.

Cervasio had been placed on an improvement plan prior to the June incident, records indicate. His suspension is from Oct. 27 to Nov. 30.