Former Calif. Regulator Shoots Fla. Man During Arrest

Former California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, who resigned in scandal in 2000, has resurfaced as a sheriff’s deputy in Fort Myers in southwest Florida.

Lee County Deputy Quackenbush, 54, was placed on administrative leave recently pending a required internal investigation after he shot someone he was trying to arrest.

“That’s what they always do,” he said from his home in Fort Myers. “I can’t really discuss it.”

Quackenbush was helping a woman retrieve her belongings after a domestic incident the night before with her husband, Teodor Buda. Quackenbush found Buda inside the home and tried to place him in handcuffs, but Buda resisted, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. Quackenbush Tasered Buda, who continued to struggle and ripped off the wires.

“The Taser fell to the ground and Mr. Buda reached down, picked up the Taser off the ground and turned it toward Dep. Quackenbush…” authorities said in a statement. In response, Quackenbush shot the man.

Buda was expected to recover from his injuries.

In 2000, Quackenbush resigned as insurance commissioner amid corruption allegations. He stepped down rather than face impeachment on allegations that he let insurance companies give $13 million to nonprofit foundations to benefit his re-election campaign instead of requiring them to pay fines for mishandling claims from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. He was never charged with any crime.

He became a road patrol deputy in Florida in June 2005.