A 13-year veteran of the Broward Sheriff’s Office was in uniform when he swiped action figures and DVDs from a Walmart without paying for them, officials said Monday.
Henry Guzman, 44, a road patrol deputy in Tamarac, allegedly stole Marvel and Star Wars action figures, as well as DVDs including “Fifty Shades Freed” and “Dirt,” valued at nearly $200.
He is accused of shoplifting the merchandise on three separate occasions — May 2, May 9 and May 17 — from a Walmart at 3001 N. State Road 7 in Lauderdale Lakes while working an off-duty special detail at Florida Medical Center, an arrest report said.
Each time, Guzman was in full uniform and hid the stolen items inside his inner vest, the report said.
He was arrested at the sheriff’s office headquarters on West Broward Boulevard at 11 a.m. Monday and taken to the Broward Main Jail, said Veda Coleman-Wright, a spokeswoman for the agency.
He faces multiple misdemeanor theft charges and has been suspended with pay, the sheriff’s office said.
“He is expected to be suspended without pay after the State Attorney’s Office formally files the charges,” Coleman-Wright said.
The agency’s public corruptions unit began its investigation after getting notified by Walmart.
“Absolutely no one is above the law,” Sheriff Scott Israel said in a prepared statement. “His actions are disgraceful, and in no way are a reflection of the good, hardworking men and women of the Broward Sheriff’s Office.”
“I commend the work of the Public Corruption Unit for its commitment to hold deputies accountable for any criminal activity.”
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-shoplifting-deputy-20180521-story.html