A sworn police officer working for California's Porterville Developmental Center claimed overtime in 2008 for days he was supposed to be on vacation and on occasions that he was out of town, an 18-month Porterville Police Department investigation has revealed.
Lt. Scott Gardner, 37, a resident of Camp Nelson, was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of embezzling of public funds.
Porterville resident Jeff Bradley, commander of the state police force at the center — a hospital that, among other tasks, helps to determine whether criminal suspects are mentally competent to stand trial — was arrested on similar charges.
The indictment charges Bradley with being complicit in helping Gardner illicitly receive more than $121,000 during calendar year 2008 by "claiming overtime for hours he had worked when he was not actually working — and being compensated for regular working hours in which he was not at work," Porterville police reported.
Porterville police were involved only because the hospital is within their jurisdiction, officials said.
All information was turned over to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office and a grand jury, which decided to indict Gardner and Bradley.
Neither suspect — booked Tuesday at Tulare County Jail on $60,000 bond each — was immediately available for comment.
The investigation took 18 months and involved analysis of 19,000 documents and the execution of 12 search warrants. It might yet take a wider scope and lead to future arrests, officials reported.
"In an investigation of this size, there's always the possibility of more charges and more arrests," Porterville administrative Sgt. Jake Castellow said.
Nancy Lungren, assistant director of communica-tions for the state Department of Developmental Services in Sacramento — which oversees the Porterville facility and its police force — confirmed that the state office had cooperated with the Porterville Police Department in the investigation but declined to comment further Wednesday.
Gardner claimed overtime for "multiple trips to Las Vegas and [to] various California cities, including the Central Coast," Porterville police reported. The investigation also showed that Gardner:
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