NORTH PORT – The City of North Port agrees to pay more than $60,000 in damages to former captain of criminal investigations Steve Uebelacker to settle wrongful termination suit.


Uebelacker was hired as a part-time internal affairs investigator by North Port Police Chief Kevin Vespia in May 2014, then made full-time later in October. Uebelacker, a former Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent and one-time Sarasota County ethics officer, was fired by Vespia in March 2017 because his “management style and philosophical differences do not fit with the organization’s philosophy and vision and has proved to be detrimental to the organization,” according to his termination letter.


According to the Herald-Tribune, the settlement agreement, which was signed by both parties February 15, carries with it a gag order, forbidding disparaging remarks made by either party.