VERO BEACH — A deputy who fatally shot a woman after she lunged at him with a butcher knife has satisfactory annual performance reviews while employed at the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, according to his personnel file.
Deputy Jonathan Lozada also has several commendations, thank you letters and award nominations. No major disciplines, including suspensions, were found.
Lozada fatally shot Susan Teel July 26 after she tried to cut him with a knife at her home in the 600 block of Carriage Lake Way. He is a five-year veteran and was put on administrative leave after the shooting.
In his annual reviews, Lozada had a satisfactory performance in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the file shows. In 2016, he had satisfactory and an above average performance.
The deputy has two commendations – one for helping return a dog stolen from a local Humane Society in December 2012 and another for being a Spanish translator during a death investigation in September 2015.
Lozada was hired as a law enforcement deputy in August 2012 at the Sheriff’s Office and was assigned to the crisis negotiation team in Nov. 2014, the file shows.
He was nominated for the life-saving award after he and two other deputies saved a woman June 28, 2016, when they responded to a welfare check at a Vero Beach home, the file shows. The deputies went to the home in the 4800 block of 48th Place and saw a 77-year-old woman unresponsive and lying on the couch with her eyes open.
They forced their way into the home by breaking a garage window and found the woman was warm, but not breathing and without a pulse, the file shows. The deputies performed CPR on the woman, and she began breathing again and had a strong pulse.
Lozada also was nominated several times for the going the “Extra Mile” award and was applauded for his performance in thank you letters sent by residents to the Sheriff’s Office.