A police sergeant was caught stealing opioid prescriptions from a disabled man, attempting to sell the drugs, and then begging the man he stole from not to report him.
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Several members of an elite police task force are now facing federal charges for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from innocent citizens.
A Florida cop was caught on home surveillance video breaking into an elderly man"s home and stealing his cash and prescription drugs.
TEXAS CITY, Texas (CN) – A widow claims in court that a former Texas City police officer found her husband unconscious on the side of the road with more than $2,000 in cash meant for Christmas gifts and stole the money, just before the man died.
Linda Mabe sued Texas City and former police officer Linnard Crouch Jr. in Galveston federal court Wednesday, claiming Crouch stole $2,400 in cash from her husband, James Mabe, while he was incapacitated on the side of the road.
Instead of returning the full amount, Crouch gave Mabe less than $300 in a “stack of $1.00 bills that James kept in the center console of the truck he drove,” according to the complaint.
“Some people would call that theft,” Linda’s attorney Randall Kallinen said during a press conference Thursday. “Many would call that theft.”
Linda’s husband was robbed by Crouch, victimized by someone who was supposed to protect and serve the public, she said during the press conference.
Crouch resigned from his position as a Texas City police officer on Jan. 30, according to a press release issued by the police department on Thursday.
“Mr. Crouch is facing criminal charges of theft and possession of a controlled substance,” the press release states. “These charges have been presented to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office and will be presented to a grand jury upon completion of the investigation.”
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The police department declined to give any additional details in the press release, citing the ongoing investigation.
Kallinen said that if the Texas City Police Department had taken more decisive action after several infractions, the incident involving Mabe and Crouch would not have occurred.
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He also suggested that the Texas City District Attorney’s Office could face repercussions for corruption if they had failed to correct Crouch’s actions after repeated infractions.
On Dec. 19, 2016, Linda gave her husband the money to buy Christmas presents for the family, according to the complaint.
“Linda and James loved the Christmas Season with the family tradition for more than 45 years being that Linda and James would host a huge Christmas meal followed by the exchange and opening of Christmas gifts,” the lawsuit states.
Mabe didn’t complete the trip and stopped on the side of the road when he “felt that something was wrong physically,” according to the complaint.
Texas City police received a call about the vehicle and sent Crouch to investigate.
“After opening James’ locked truck door, Officer Crouch then reached into James’ right front pocket and removed James’ $2,400 in Christmas present money and other money,” the complaint states. “Officer Crouch never reported the $2,400 and other money [and] instead gave back less than $300.”
A police department memo from January corroborates Linda’s allegations.
“I have reviewed Officer Crouch’s body camera video and have observed Officer Crouch to have removed money from Mr. Mabe’s right front pocket he appears not to have reported,” according to the memo written by Assistant Chief Joe Stanton to Police Chief Robert Burby.
Crouch was suspended last year prior to the incident described in the lawsuit after several complaints were filed against him, dating back to 2011.
The former officer failed to complete incident reports, left information out of other completed reports and failed to wear his body camera at all times while on duty, according to a 68-page notice of suspension and a list of official complaints included as an exhibit with the plaintiff’s lawsuit.
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Notices from the list characterized Crouch pattern of actions as “dereliction” and “neglect of duty,” but he didn’t resign until after the Mabe incident.
After emergency services were called, Mabe was taken to a local emergency room where he died later that evening, according to the complaint. His family says his heart failed.
Crouch met with Linda and her son, Michael Mabe, at the emergency room to return James’ personal belongings, the complaint states.
He handed them a baggie with a few hundred dollars inside and allegedly told them that the money was the only personal possession he had found on James.
According to the complaint, Crouch had also breached protocol by giving Linda and Michael the money directly instead of the usual documenting of property by the police department’s inventory process.
“fell upon deaf ears and no money was returned.”
Michael said during Thursday’s press conference that the police department and district attorney did not believe that Crouch had taken his family’s money.
He said he didn’t find out about the department’s memo acknowledging the video proof of theft until he requested documents from the department.
When asked who he blames for the incident, Michael said there was “more than enough anger to go around.”
He said that in addition to seeking justice for his mother, he wants to help ensure that “this doesn’t happen to someone else” after seeing his mother’s “day-to-day struggle” since the incident in December.
Michael also indicated that his mother’s lawsuit was filed to focus on the alleged crimes committed, rather than reimbursement of the $2,400.
READ MORE: Police Arrest 8-Month Pregnant Woman. 5 Days in Jail & 8 Months Probation, Whoops Wrong Person.
“The Mabe family’s Christmas, made so sad by James’ death, was shocking and appalling due to the theft or taking by a police officer of the Mabe’s Christmas money,” the lawsuit states.
Linda Mabe seeks punitive damages against Texas City and Crouch for alleged Fourth Amendment and due-process violations. Her attorney, Kallinen, is based in Houston.
Crouch could not be reached for comment.
Denver, CO — A Denver cop has been arrested and suspended without pay after his own body camera footage caught him stealing $1,200 in cash from a crash victim.
Instead of helping an unconscious crash victim, officer Julian Archuleta took advantage of the situation for his own personal gain by going through the man’s clothing and robbing him. Archuleta now faces charges of misdemeanor theft, 1st-degree official misconduct and tampering with physical evidence.
According to an arrest affidavit, Archuleta responded to a call of shots fired in the early morning hours of October 7. The call then led to a short pursuit which ended as the car crashed. The driver got away while the passenger of the vehicle was knocked unconscious.
Archuleta’s body camera then recorded the officer for the next 24 minutes and 40 seconds. In the footage, he took pictures of the scene and then searched the man’s clothing which had been removed by paramedics.
In the video, Archuleta finds a stack of cash in the man’s pants with a $100 bill on top, according to the arrest affidavit. He then separates the $100 bill from the stack and a $1 bill remains on top.
Throughout the footage, Archuleta shuffles money and rearranges paperwork in his patrol car, the affidavit said.
According to the Denver Post, when a detective collected the cash and logged it into the property bureau as evidence, he counted $118 and did not find any $100 bills, the affidavit said. But while reviewing Archuleta’s body camera footage as part of the investigation, the detective noticed the $100 bill.
Amazingly enough, instead of covering up the theft, the detective crossed the thin blue line and reported the inconsistency with the $100 bill to internal affairs. When confronted by investigators, Archuleta told them he would “check his war bag” to see if any of the money had slipped into a crevice in his patrol car.
According to the arrest affidavit, Archuleta called the detective back an hour later and claimed he found 12 $100 bills that “must have fallen in his bag.” After being caught red-handed, Archuleta then turned in the money.
According to the Post, the Denver district attorney’s office declined to prosecute the shooting suspect because of the missing cash and because Archuleta allegedly moved evidence inside the suspect’s vehicle before detectives had a search warrant, the affidavit said.
Earlier this year, the Denver police department was equipped with body cameras. We now know why it took so long for the department to adopt them. Archuleta will now go down in history as the first Denver cop to be criminally charged based on body camera evidence.
Like most cases of police theft, this incident is not isolated. In fact, just 2 months ago, Grants Police Department Sgt. Roshern C. McKinney, 33, was arrested after an investigation found that he’d stolen both money and marijuana from the police department. Like Archuleta, he entire theft was captured on the officer’s own body camera. McKinney has since been charged with marijuana distribution, conspiracy, and felony embezzlement.
State police also charged McKinney’s 23-year-old girlfriend Tanicka Gallegos-Gonzales, for drug distribution and conspiracy. Both were arrested in Albuquerque and booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center, according to KOB.
Public Information Officer for the New Mexico State Police, Elizabeth Armijo said Grants police chief, Craig Vandiver alerted state police after the department found video from Mckinney’s lapel camera that “exposed possible illicit activity by a Grants Police Department sergeant.”
What does it say about the criminal tendency of some police officers when they are unable to practice restraint from theft — knowing that they are being recorded?
