NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The attorney for a Jacksonville police officer accused of stalking and kidnapping an ex entered a not guilty plea on his behalf Thursday morning in Nassau County court.
Brian Housend, who was with JSO for 20 years, is already suspended from his job with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and will eventually be fired, Sheriff T.K. Waters said.
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Housend’s next court date was set for Nov. 14. He has hired high-profile local defense attorney Hank Coxe to represent him.
According to the heavily redacted warrant from his arrest in September, the ex-girlfriend said Housend sent her threatening emails and messages.
In July, the woman says, Housend came to her house uninvited in his marked cruiser, wearing his uniform, and began banging on the back door. When she refused to get back with him, she says, Housend threatened to kill her.
He is also being charged with armed kidnapping, which could carry a life sentence if convicted.
Housend started working with JSO in 2005 and was re-hired twice after leaving to work at other agencies.
Documents obtained by News4JAX show he was part of six internal investigations, but none reached a level for him to be fired, according to Waters.
Housend was previously disciplined by JSO for making homophobic comments about two colleagues.
He is being held at the Nassau County Jail on a more than $1 million bond.