PUBLISHED SEPT. 8, 2016
New captain assigned to HCSO Dist. IV
By LOIS KINDLE
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Christi Esquinaldo will join the HCSO Dist. IV Command as its new captain Sept. 12. She is joined by Maj. Rob Bullara, left, and retiring Capt. Steve Launikitis on the back porch of the command office during Launikitis’ retirement party Sept. 2.
Christi Esquinaldo will officially join the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Dist. IV Command as its new captain Sept. 12.
The 50-year-old South Tampa resident started as an HCSO patrol deputy 20 years ago, when Cal Henderson was sheriff.
Over the years since, she’s held numerous positions within the department, including school resource deputy; homicide detective and juvenile detective, criminal investigations; field training squad instructor; corporal, criminal intelligence; sergeant, street crimes; sergeant, supervisor of 25 school resource deputies; and lieutenant, latent investigations and child protective investigations.
Esquinaldo met her new commander, Maj. Rob Bullara, in the 1990s when he was a homicide sergeant.
“I never worked for him, just around him,” she said.
Appreciating her “get-up-and-go,” Bullara was thrilled when Sheriff David Gee selected Esquinaldo to replace Capt. Steve Launikitis, who recently retired. She will receive her captain’s badge Sept. 8 at an HCSO promotions ceremony at the University of South Florida.
“She’ll do a great job for us here,” Bullara said. “She has a can-do attitude and is very knowledgeable and experienced.
“I’m glad to have her, and I think she’s going to fit in perfectly with both our deputies and the community.”
Esquinaldo was born and raised in Key West. When she was 27, she moved to Hillsborough County to look for a career opportunity. She had previously earned an associate’s degree in business from Florida Keys Community College, and she wanted to return to school.
After she arrived here, Esquinaldo met a Tampa Police Department employee who suggested she attend the Law Enforcement Academy at Hillsborough Community College. Shortly after graduating in August 1996, she was hired by the sheriff’s office.
Once with the HCSO, Esquinaldo enrolled at St. Leo University and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminal justice in 2006 and 2015, respectively. She also earned a graduate certificate from the Southern Police Institute, University of Louisville in 2012.
In her new role as captain and deputy commander, Esquinaldo has been given carte blanche by Maj. Bullara to look for ways to improve the Dist. IV Command. Like the major, she will be heavily involved in the community.
She has been additionally tasked by HCSO Col. James Burton, who leads the Department of Patrol Services, to oversee DUI enforcement for the entire county.
“My career is a very important part of my life, and I’m devoted to it,” Esquinaldo said. “It’s been very fruitful, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunities I’ve had.”
Launikitis, 55, welcomed his retirement.
“It’s just time,” he said. “One thing about this job that no one sees is all the family functions I missed like ball games, band and concerts my kids were involved in.”
The father of three children, ages 22, 26 and 27, now wants to make up for that loss.
Launikitis worked almost 35 years for the sheriff’s office, 21 of them in narcotics. He was assigned to Dist. IV six-and-a-half years ago.
In October 2013, he and Master Deputy Chris Davis were hit and seriously injured by a motorcyclist as they were handling a routine traffic stop on I-75. Launikitis wasn’t able to return to work for seven months and Davis not at all.
“I worked hard to come back so Ron (Hartley, who was then major) didn’t have to train a new captain,” Launikitis said.
The two have been friends for more than three decades.
“I’ve known ‘Lunk’ since he first came to the sheriff’s office,” Hartley said at the Sept. 2 retirement party. “At that time he had hair and a body that would’ve make Clint Eastwood jealous.
“He was involved in many major smuggling cases when he was in vice. He’s been a good cop, and I’m proud to call him my friend.”
Bullara said the department is suffering a big loss.
“He will be missed,” he said. “He was well liked by the troops. Filling his shoes will be a very hard job. But there’s really no replacing Lunk.”
The reigning champion of Dist. IV’s annual chili cook-off will miss his colleagues.
“It’s a family here, a bunch of great guys and gals,” he said. “Working here (with them) actually extended my career.”
The captain, who has already bought a new boat, will be making the most of his retirement. In addition to spending more time with his family, he plans to “fish, fish and fish some more.”
