Broward County and state law enforcement authorities are investigating a tip that as much as $175,000 may be missing from the Hollywood Police Department’s evidence room, prompting an investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing by police officers or other city employees, sources have told The Miami Herald.
The missing money has drawn the attention of the Broward State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
A recently retired police sergeant whose job included overseeing the evidence locker for the last few years is said to be the focus of the probe, although everyone who has overseen the evidence locker for the past few years is being scrutinized, the sources said. The sergeant was allegedly captured on video moving boxes out the property room’s back door.
The inquiry is the latest in a stream of crises the city has faced over many years and comes just days after Hollywood officials traveled to the state Capitol to answer questions about gross mismanagement of city finances before a Joint Legislative Auditing Committee. At the hearing, state senators grilled the city’s financial director and city attorney about their decision to declare a state of “financial urgency” in 2010.
The move led to higher taxes, layoffs and pay cuts for city employees, and may not have been necessary, the auditors concluded.
The Police Department, which has weathered an abundance of corruption scandals over the years, has a new interim police chief, Vince Affanato, a former Hollywood police major who replaced retired chief Chad Wagner a few weeks ago.
Affanato did not return repeated phone calls by The Miami Herald. Wagner, now a captain at the Broward Sheriff’s office, also did not return phone calls.
The money allegedly disappeared under the watch of Sgt. John Nevins, who retired in April. He is now part of the criminal investigation, although nothing in his personnel file reviewed by The Herald indicates that the police department’s Internal Affairs unit or then-chief Wagner took any action.
However, Frank Fernandez, Hollywood’s assistant city manager who supervises the police department, said Thursday that he first became aware of the issue just after he was hired in August. He said Wagner informed him of the probe that had been referred to FDLE and the state attorney.
“I don’t know specifics,” he said.
Reached Thursday night outside his Cooper City home, Nevins said he was not aware of the investigation.
“The rumor mill has been going and there have been a lot of phone calls as of late,” he acknowledged. “Many people worked in there.”
The Broward State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are handling the probe. Spokesmen for those two agencies declined to provide details.
However, Jeff Marano, head of the Broward County police union, said he was aware that there has been some questions raised about missing evidence, including money.
“They went to retrieve some evidence for a case and apparently found that some money was missing,’’ Marano said. The money, which went missing sometime last year, ranges anywhere from $125,000 to $175,000, according to several sources close to the investigation.
The evidence depository, which is under video monitoring and scanned inventory control, stores all property seized in connection with a criminal case. Often this includes money, drugs, guns and other valuables collected at a crime scene.
Investigators probe cash missing from Hollywood Police Department’s evidence room
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Investigators probe cash missing from Hollywood Police Department’s evidence room
