JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is accused of bribery after he attempted to get the victim of a theft to send him explicit photos in exchange for the stolen goods.
JSO Undersheriff Pat Ivey said Monday morning the investigation started in May when 11-year veteran Brian Pace responded to a call from a female victim of a reported theft.
According to Ivey, Pace took her report and later contacted her and claimed to have her property, saying that he would give her the property back if she would send him some inappropriate photographs over the phone. She filed a complaint with JSO on Sept. 11.
Pace was arrested Sunday night after he asked to meet the woman claiming he was going to give her back the stolen property.
Pace is charged with one count of bribery, a second-degree felony.
Ivey said Pace spent time as a bailiff, then a corrections officer, before becoming a police officer in 2017.
Pace resigned after his arrest, Ivey said.
According to JSO, Pace had been investigated six times since 2009. Three times JSO found that Pace “failed to conform to work standards," once in 2010 and twice in 2012. He was also twice accused of unnecessary force, but those allegations were not sustained.
His arrest marks the seventh JSO employee arrested in 2020 and the third officer.