JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office stated Thursday that a patrol officer had been arrested on counts of armed kidnapping, stalking, and making death threats.
According to Sheriff T.K. Waters, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office arrested Officer Brian Housend on Thursday. He is charged with three felonies, as detailed below:
- Armed kidnapping using a firearm
- Written Threats to Kill
- Aggravated stalking
He found the compilation of charges “very disturbing.” Waters stated that Housend was first hired by JSO on October 31, 2005. He had left and worked for other agencies since then but was recruited back twice. According to the sheriff, Housend once left JSO to pursue a law degree.
Sheriff Waters stated that “there’s been a few situations where he dealt with internal affairs,” but that it “didn’t rise to the level of termination.”
According to an arrest warrant issued by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, the charges come from Housend’s relationship with a female victim.
According to the report, a Nassau County deputy responded to the victim’s call on Tuesday, following a disagreement with Housend. The woman informed the deputy she saw a green laser, which she thought was attached to a rifle, flashing into a window in her home. She suspected it was Housend based on a series of recurring threats she claimed to have received.
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According to the report, the victim also showed the deputy threatening emails and text messages she got from Housend on Tuesday and in the months preceding that day.
In one of the email discussions, Housend and the victim recounted an event in which Housend was suspected of removing a rifle from a gun safe in February after the victim accused him of hurting her.
According to the police report, Housend did not deny the incident occurred but rather criticized the victim for calling internal affairs.
The victim informed the Nassau officer that the incident happened on February 28 when Housend reportedly abused her while attempting to grab her smartphone. She informed authorities that after the scuffle, Housend grabbed a firearm from the gun safe, which she considered dangerous.
According to the complaint, the two exchanged text messages in May and June, during which the victim pleaded with Housend to stop sending her “harassing texts” and instead contact her via email. The victim reinforced this sentiment multiple times over the next few months, according to the report. However, according to the investigation, Housend continued to contact her via text, phone, and email in a “threatening and harassing manner.”
According to the victim, Nassau County deputy Housend arrived at her house on July 11 in his designated JSO police cruiser, wearing his JSO uniform and carrying his JSO-issued firearm. According to the report, when he arrived, he began hammering on the back door. The victim “reluctantly” allowed Housend into her home, where they engaged in a “civil conversation” that escalated into a “threatening conversation” in which Housend allegedly threatened to kill her “then and there” if she didn’t get back together with him.
The complaint goes on to identify more instances of threats and abusive text messages delivered to the victim. JSO has suspended Housend without pay, but he will eventually be sacked, according to Waters.
This was the 13th arrest of a JSO employee in 2024.