Fired Coast cop vowed to fight for job after conviction. Here’s what happened.
.jpeg "Gautier police officer Friedrich Carl “Fred” Paetow")
A Gautier police officer convicted of making threats against a Coast psychologist has been fired.
The Gautier civil service commission voted to approve the firing based on the recommendation from city officials to terminate Sgt. Friedrich “Fred” Carl Paetow. The city recommended a termination date of March 21.
Paetow had been on administrative leave since February following his arrest in Biloxi.
The commission, made up of members Howard Butler and Doug Mansfield, unanimously approved the recommendation from city officials to uphold Paetow’s termination when they met in late April.
Paetow’s attorney, Keith Pisarich, had said his client planned to stay in law enforcement and fight for his job in Gautier when a Biloxi judge found Paetow guilty on March 11 of a misdemeanor charge of transmission of obscene and threatening electronic communications.
However, Paetow did not appeal the recommendation to end his employment in Gautier.
‘I am pleased’
The Coast psychologist Paetow had threatened, Julie Teater, attended the civil service meeting in Gautier when commissioners upheld the firing.
“I am pleased the civil service commission concluded the process and made a clear decision,” Teater said. She is also pursuing action through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to have Paetow’s certificate to serve as a law enforcement officer revoked.
Paetow had pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor offense at his March trial, meaning he did not admit guilt but agreed there was enough evidence to convict him of the crime.
The arrest
Biloxi police arrested Paetow, 53, on Feb. 4 on misdemeanor charges of stalking and transmitting obscene and threatening electronic communications.
Paetow’s arrest followed reports from Teater that Paetow threatened her in voicemails and stalked her at her office in Biloxi.
The Sun Herald does not usually identify victims of crimes, but Teater wanted to go on the record about what had happened to her.
Teater said the experience left her afraid for herself and her staff. She had added patrols around her home and office as a security measure.
Biloxi Municipal Judge William “Gig” Tisdale fined Paetow $641 and sentenced him to a 30-day suspended jail sentence. The judge also ordered Paetow to have no contact with Teater.
In exchange for his plea, Tisdale dismissed the misdemeanor stalking charge.
Before working in Gautier, Paetow was an officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
