ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A patrol sergeant with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office was arrested Thursday following a months-long investigation into accusations he was paid to work on-duty and off-duty simultaneously.
Sgt. Monroe West was arrested on two counts of organized schemes to defraud and a public servant falsifying official documents. He was booked into the county jail early afternoon.
Sheriff David Shoar immediately terminated West from the department.
West had worked for the office since June 1997.
The multi-month investigation by the department's Financial Crimes Unit began after allegations were made that West falsified his time card so he was paid for working off duty will he was on the clock with the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said West was reported by others who noticed some inaccuracies with what he was claiming. In one instance, he was on duty as sergeant in one zone and signed up working an off duty detail in the same zone, making double money, investigators said.
"If you are a sergeant on duty in one of the quadrants of our county, you can not also be signed up to work a detail in one of those neighborhoods within your jurisdiction and be making double the amount of money at the same time," Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan said. "Some of these issues were an hour here or an hour there, but over time they added up to the value which is under the $20,000 mark, but in the thousands."
"It is always difficult when we have to arrest a fellow law enforcement officer that we served with, but I am grateful and our community can be proud, that we hold our members accountable even when it is painful," Shoar said. "Though our members are hired from our communities, we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, so that we always have the public's support and confidence."