PALM BAY, Fla. — A Palm Bay police officer who was hired after a series of controversies at other agencies will remain on the job, even as some residents call for his ouster over an arrest back in June.
Sean Rollins did not violate any policies when he broke a woman’s window after she was pulled over for driving a vehicle that was not insured. She did not own the vehicle.
Rollins stopped another officer from letting the woman drive away, reminding him that if the woman crashed on the way home, it would be on them.
The situation escalated after the woman refused to get out of the vehicle. The woman drove off after her window was smashed. The chase ended at her home.
WFTV questioned what Palm Bay knew about Rollins when they hired him in 2023 and re-hired him in 2025. His records from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy (SCCJA), which keeps track of all law enforcement officers in the state, show he was fired after a series of unnecessary use of force incidents the Columbia Police Department said violated their policies.
On Wednesday, Palm Bay produced a document showing Rollins had resigned from Columbia without explanation, despite the SCCJA records and extensive local reporting on his termination at the time. The resignation letter was dated the same day as Rollins’ termination paperwork.
In his hiring paperwork in 2023, Rollins said he was never fired or pressured to resign from a law enforcement agency. He admitted to an officer involved shooting Columbia cleared him of, but did not disclose the excessive force investigations he was subjected to.
When he was re-hired in 2025, he did not list any disciplinary history at his previous agencies.
“This will serve as the only official statement from the Palm Bay Police Department regarding this matter,” Sgt. Vincent Galioto wrote Wednesday in the email containing the resignation letter. “All future inquiries will be directed to this release.”
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group