A 44-year-old Milwaukee police officer was charged Wednesday with stealing money from a vehicle during a search.
Officer Jeffrey Buckson, a member of the force since April 2003, was arrested July 2 by members of the department’s Professional Performance Division, according to an arrest detention report.
The Professional Performance Division began investigating Buckson based upon information provided by other officers, department spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said in a statement.
Buckson, who had been assigned to District 3, has been suspended, Schwartz said.
According to a criminal complaint filed against Buckson:
On the afternoon of July 2, police personnel parked a black Chevrolet Tahoe in the 2600 block of W. Lloyd St. and placed a handgun and $530 in cash inside the SUV’s center console. A man was recruited to loiter near the SUV while police observed.
Buckson and his partner were told the SUV and the man were involved in a drug dealing complaint and drove to the area to investigate.
The officers searched, detained and released the man and searched the SUV. The officers took the cash and the gun from the SUV to be inventoried at the District 3 police station. They had not yet counted the cash.
The officers stopped at an ATM and a Taco Bell while driving back to the district station. While his partner was outside the vehicle using the ATM, Buckson took $100 of the cash, the complaint said.
After returning to the station, Buckson filled out an inventory form and reported that $430 had been found in the SUV. He put the other $100 in his bag in a locker room at the station, according to the complaint.
Police found the money in his bag after obtaining a search warrant, the complaint said.
Buckson told investigators he took the money because he was having financial problems and family issues, according to the complaint.
He is charged with two felony counts of misconduct in public office and misdemeanor counts of theft by an employee and concealing stolen property.
No comments:
Post a Comment