FDLE Investigating Lynn Haven Police Department Missing Money
Save Email Print
Bookmark and Share
Posted: 9:25 PM Nov 4, 2009
FDLE Investigating Lynn Haven Police Department Missing Money
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently investigating missing money from the Lynn Haven Police Department's evidence locker.
Reporter: Josh Gauntt
Email Address: joshua.gauntt@wjhg.com
width:200 and height: 148 and picwidth: 200 and pciheight: 148
Font Size:

We first learned about this investigation Tuesday, after receiving a copy of a letter from the daughter of the officer who was in charge of the evidence room.

FDLE confirmed the investigation to us late Monday afternoon, but Lynn Haven police officials did not return our calls. The letter says the amount of missing money is in the thousands.

Audrey Brazzell sent this letter to Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen on October 22nd, saying her father Sgt. Larry Thomas discovered $2,500 missing from the Lynn Haven police department's evidence locker.

Brazzell claims Thomas reported the missing money to Assistant Police Chief Dennis Kiah. Thomas' evidence room key was then confiscated.

Brazzell said officers then started accusing Thomas of being a thief. A few days later, the FDLE got involved.

That's when they discovered even more money missing, a little over $4,000 total. Thomas has hired local attorney Waylon Graham to represent him. Graham says this case isn't going to be easy.

What is appears like for a long time they treated the evidence room like a supply room. Virtually anyone and everyone had access," Graham said.

Graham says there are no cameras in the room.

"I think this is a prime example of why maintaining tight control on the evidence room and who comes and goes. If you let enough into the hen house so to speak to steal eggs, then you don't know who really stole the eggs," Graham added.

Graham says Thomas could be a target because he's about to retire. Police Chief David Messer issued a short written statement this afternoon confirming the investigation, but refused to comment any further.

In her letter to McKeithen, Brazzell wrote that Messer must be an ostrich with his head in a hole not to see what is going on. The FDLE investigation could take weeks.


Latest Comments

Posted by: Anonymous on Nov 6, 2009 at 05:03 PM

THANK YOU JOSH GAUNTT - FINALLY, FINALLY THERE IS SOMEONE IN THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA THE CITIZENWS OF LYNN HAVEN CAN COUNT ON TO PROVIDE THE TRUTH . FINALLY THERE IS SOMEONE TO TELL LYNN HAVEN CITIZENS WHAT IS GOING ON BEHIND THE EVER CLOSED DOORS AT LYNN HAVEN CITY HALL. (OH YEAH - I ALMOST FORGOT - MIKEY DID RUN A 3 SENTENCE "NEWS ARTICLE" THAT TOLD NOTHING ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON.) THANKS AGAIN JOSH
Posted by: Rick Location: Youngstown on Nov 6, 2009 at 06:21 AM

They must have let the union in.
Posted by: debbyarr Location: Panama City on Nov 5, 2009 at 09:13 AM

It's up to the Lynn Haven Chief of Police to set the standards and policies of his police department. If he ran a lax ship, then you have problems like this come up. The officer who was in charge of the room can't dictate policy for the department's evidence room - he only follows the policy.
Headlines - msnbc.com
  • Recovery is gathering speed, jobs data show

    The U.S. economy is like a flywheel: it takes a lot to get it going. Once it starts moving, it can pick up speed pretty quickly.The U.S. economy is like a flywheel — it takes a lot to get it going. But once it starts moving, it can pick up speed pretty quickly. Friday’s January jobs report shows it’s accelerating.


  • Nasdaq hits 11-year high as stocks jump
    A surge in hiring last month boosted stock prices Friday, with the technology sector hitting an 11-year high as the data boosted hopes the world's largest economy has turned a corner.
  • Jobless rate lowest in almost three years
    The U.S. economy creates jobs at the fastest pace in 9 months and the jobless rate drops to an almost 3-year low, raising hopes that the labor market is picking up steam.
  • Do you think economy has turned the corner?
    The government reported Friday that the U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January. Do you think the recovery is accelerating?
  • Micron CEO Appleton dies in plane crash
    By msnbc.com staff and wire Steve Appleton, Chairman and CEO of Micron Technology, has passed away in a small plane accident in Boise, Idaho, the company said Friday.
  • N.Y. foreclosure lawsuit could slow home seizures
    Bankers struggling to deal with faulty foreclosure paperwork just got hit with another major headache. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, recently tapped by President Obama to head a new task force to investigate mortgage fraud, sued three major U.S.
  • Where the (good) jobs are coming from

      We already know that one key way to make more money and stay employed is to get more education.  We already know that one key way to make more money and stay employed is to get more education.


  • Companies paid even lower tax rate than Romney
    According to new data from the Congressional Budget Office, U.S.-based companies paid only 12.1 percent in taxes on profits earned domestically. This is the lowest rate in four decades.
  • Woman accused of selling fake Facebook stock
    A Wisconsin woman has been charged with theft over accusations she tried to profit from Facebook's much-anticipated plans to go public by selling fake stock in the social media giant.
  • Slideshow: What you can get for ... $400,000

    Each week, TODAY real estate expert Barbara Corcoran looks around the U.S. to see what home buyers can get for their money. Each week, TODAY real estate expert Barbara Corcoran looks around the U.S. to see what home buyers can get for their money.


  • Lawsuit: Gulf oil spill still leaking after 7 years

    Environmental groups on Thursday sued an oil company over the pace of its cleanup of a Gulf of Mexico spill that continues seven years after it was triggered by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.Environmental groups on Thursday sued an oil company over the pace of its cleanup of a Gulf of Mexico spill that continues seven years after it was triggered by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.




    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • Forecasters in stormy debate over climate
    Whether mankind is behind warming temperatures is an issue that's divided the American Meteorological Society, whose members are Americans' prime source of news about weather.

    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • Glacier theft suspects on thin ice with Chilean police

    Thieves have stolen 11,000 pounds of ancient ice from a Chilean glacier to make designer cubes for cocktails in bars in the nation's capital, Santiago, authorities have told local media.Thieves have stolen 11,000 pounds of ancient ice from a Chilean glacier to make designer cubes for cocktails in bars in the nation's capital, Santiago, authorities have told local media.




    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • US: Mid-Atlantic wind farms take step forward
    Offshore wind farms from New Jersey to Virginia took a big step closer to reality with the completion of a review that showed the renewable energy source would leave no major environmental damage, officials said Thursday.

    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • US estimates tritium release at Illinois reactor
    The trace amount of radioactive tritium released in steam to cool a reactor during a shutdown at an Illinois nuclear plant was not enough to present a danger to the public, according to the first estimates by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • Sponsored By:
  • Air shipment of 60 lab monkeys blocked, PETA says

    A daylong bombardment of emails, social media posts and phone calls led Air France to cancel a planned shipment Wednesday of monkeys to a testing lab in the U.S.A daylong bombardment of emails, social media posts and phone calls led Air France to cancel a planned shipment Wednesday of monkeys to a testing lab in the U.S.




    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • Filmmaker arrested at House hearing on shale gas
    The director of a U.S. documentary that portrays shale gas production as dangerous was arrested and escorted out of a Republican-dominated Congressional hearing on Wednesday, touching off a dispute over public access to the event.

    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • Feds declare Atlantic sturgeon endangered species
    The Atlantic sturgeon, a prehistoric fish whose once bountiful populations were depleted by anglers seeking its coveted caviar, has been declared an endangered species by federal officials, a decision that could lead to moves to protect its habitats along the East Coast.

    Email this Article Add to Newsvine
  • Small radiation amount 'could have' escaped plant
    An "extremely small" amount of radiation could have escaped from a Southern California nuclear power plant after a water leak prompted operators to shut down the reactor, a utility spokesman said Wednesday.

    Email this Article Add to Newsvine