Police officer accused of taking over dead man's home and using his identity for four years
A Florida police officer has been arrested after being accused of illegally taking over a dead man’s home and renovating the space over a four year period.
Officer Brian Louis Sguros was arrested on Tuesday (October 20) after it was alleged he took over a house owned by Dennis Ionis West in South Florida.
The 35-year-old was one of two officers tasked with responding to the elderly man's home in 2022, after a neighbor had called 911 claiming they hadn't seen him in more than a week.
West was found dead by the police officers at his home, with a post-mortem examination determining that he died of natural causes, specifically cardiovascular disease.
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But several weeks later, Sguros allegedly took possession of West’s home without authorization, an act he later admitted to, according to court documents seen by the New York Post.
It's thought that the officer poured over $214,000 of his own money into renovating the home, as per WPLG, allegedly boosting the property value to around $500,000.
According to records, the accused is now being held at the Broward County Jail.
Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar said in a statement: "We hold police officers in the highest regard because they take an oath to protect the public.
"This case is so troubling because this officer has been charged with using his position to defraud the public. I want to thank our BCPA Crimes Against Property Team and the Broward Sheriff’s Office for their detailed and thorough investigation."
He was suspended from his role in July of this year after working for the department since March 2021.
Details from the report suggests Sguros used West's identity to gain permits for an $8,000 project to replace the windows and doors inside the home.
Documents used allegedly included the deceased man’s driver’s license and signature, and it's thought the construction company believed West was alive based on the documents they had been given.
Broward Sheriff’s Office alleged, according to the South Florida SunSentinel: "Sguros represented himself to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office as West’s friend, although there is no indication he knew West, and stated that West had no living family, which was untrue."
The former officer also reportedly offered to arrange a funeral service for the elderly man if no family members stepped forward to do so.
According to the affidavit filed, investigators found probable cause to pursue five charges against Sguros, including official misconduct, criminal use of a deceased person’s identification information, criminal use of personal identification information, offense against a computer user, and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
Mia Williams