BOYNTON BEACH — A Boynton Beach police officer has resigned from the force months after testing positive for cocaine, records show.
Detective Rocky Zavattaro, an 18-year veteran of the department, tested positive for the drug on Sept. 28 under the city’s policies and the police union contract, according to internal affairs records.
Zavattaro told investigators that days earlier, he had taken cocaine at a bar in Palm Beach Gardens while visiting friends over Labor Day weekend, records show. While in the bar’s restroom with an old friend, he was offered the drug and snorted it.
According to a news release from the department, Boynton Beach Police Chief Michael Gregory recommended Zavattaro’s firing after an internal affairs investigation found him in violation of his oath as a police officer.
Zavattaro resigned last month before City Manager Lori LaVerriere acted on the police chief’s recommendation, the release read.
“We took affirmative steps to address the severity of misconduct in this case, and we will continue to hold police officers to the high standard expected by our community,” Chief Gregory said.
Asked by investigators how an 18-year police officer could meet with an old friend and accept cocaine, knowing it’s illegal, Zavattaro replied that he is a daredevil, records indicated.
“If you ask him to jump off of a bridge he would do it just to impress you,” the records read. “Det. Zavattaro said this incident was a snap in judgment on his part.”
Neither Zavattaro nor Palm Beach County’s police union could be reached for comment.
