Florida officer found dead man, impersonated him for years, renovated his home

> Sguros filed a complaint against the real estate company in February, saying in filings that he discovered West in the home while he was on duty and detailing how he subsequently began to clean, secure and invest in the property. However, he never established in his records that he came to be involved in the home through a purchase, lease, probate appointment, deed or relationship with West’s heirs, the arrest affidavit said.

Wow, cops certainly know how to produce a confession.

Cop stole house from dead man. Then cop sued company that rightfully bought house from dead man's heirs?

Was Flock involved somehow?

> Sguros [the cop] claimed he spent at least $214,000 of his own money on the home.

If he spent so much, why not just buy his own house? The house in the article is nothing special to look at.

That's one way to get a home.

This sounds bonkers, but there was a kernel of legal strategy here - adverse possession, basically a statute of limitations on getting your land back.

Assuming the identity of a dead person was (is still?) a common form of fraud. People (usually relatives) could collect pension and social security payments sometimes for years before being discovered (if they ever were).

That he is being prosecuted for this is a sad example of why officers need stronger qualified immunity for snap decisions made in the line of duty

The most surprising part of this story is that a police officer got arrested and charged with a felony.