James Fishback’s ex-cop running mate is under criminal investigation

Sean Lozano, the running mate of Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, is under criminal investigation over his conduct as a police officer.

In late July, New Times reported that six months before Fishback named Lozano his running mate, the Lauderhill Police Department fired Lozano and deemed him “permanently unfit for duty.” Records show Lozano spent three years at the department and racked up eight complaints, including an incident in which he threw an elderly woman experiencing a mental health episode to the ground at the Lauderhill Transit Center, called her a bitch, and told her to “shut the fuck up.”

The department fired him that December after an evaluation (records redact the type of evaluation and who performed it). In a letter, Lauderhill’s city manager informed Lozano that his employment “cannot be salvaged.”

Now, as first reported by WLRN, Lozano is the subject of a criminal probe by the Broward County State Attorney’s Office (SAO) over the bus terminal incident. Paula McMahon, a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office, tells New Times the Lauderhill Police Department referred its internal affairs findings on the 2025 incident to the state attorney’s Public Corruption Unit for review.

“That review by prosecutors is ongoing,” McMahon wrote in an email.

The SAO reportedly opened the probe after receiving a request last summer from the Lauderhill Police Department to look at the incident. According to an internal affairs report describing county surveillance video, the woman was sitting in the bus lane and blocking traffic when Lozano, who was working a detail at the transit hub that evening, “forcibly” shoved her to the ground and handcuffed her.

Officers who responded to the scene described the woman as confused and disoriented. According to the report, she had soiled herself by the time backup arrived, and police placed her under the Baker Act, which allows people in crisis to be involuntarily held for psychiatric evaluation. Lozano’s body camera was in his car with a dead battery, but another officer’s captured him admitting he’d thrown her to the ground. In his own account of the incident, Lozano wrote that the woman had “lost her balance.”

“The incident raised significant concerns regarding Officer Lozano’s conduct and reporting,” the internal affairs report reads.

Records show Lozano was never disciplined for the bus terminal incident. While internal affairs sustained five violations over Lozano’s behavior on that night alone, including a finding that he lied in an official report, investigators didn’t complete the internal affairs report until January 30, and Lauderhill Police Chief Constance Stanley didn’t sign off until February 5. By then, Lozano had been off the payroll for seven weeks.

Fishback, a far-right long-shot candidate running against fellow Republican frontrunner Byron Donalds, has been labeled the “Groyper candidate” for courting Gen-Z men and aligning himself with white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes. His selection of Lozano as his pro-law enforcement running mate was the latest controversy to follow the campaign.

Asked last month whether he or his campaign had reviewed Lozano’s internal affairs file before naming him his running mate, Fishback sent New Times a document from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that says Lozano left Lauderhill PD under “Administrative Separation (not involving misconduct).” The FDLE form lists a separation date of December 2025 and makes no reference to a termination. Lauderhill Police did not respond to emailed questions about the discrepancy between the two documents.

Fishback did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment on the criminal investigation.

He previously defended Lozano in a text to New Times: “Sean A. Lozano is a decorated law enforcement officer. The fake news’ attempt to smear him comes as no surprise given its longstanding disrespect for law enforcement. “Governor DeSantis made Florida the law and order capital of the country by backing the blue, not lying about them like the media does. As Governor, I will always defend Florida’s law enforcement and corrections officers.”