A police officer has been fired and arrested nearly two years after authorities say he took money belonging to a narcotics suspect and then falsified a police report to make it seem he just found the cash according to reports released on Monday.
Robert Merkel, 45, was a 14 year veteran of the police department. He was terminated on January 15th and then arrested on May 29th on one felony count of official misconduct and one count of falsifying records, which is a misdemeanor.
The investigation started in August 2006 when two rookie officers complained about Merkel’s behavior during an arrest. Authorities could not (or would not) explain the lag time between the incident and his firing and arrest.
Here's what a report by the police department's Office of Internal Affairs said led to Merkel's arrest:
Christopher Clemons and Grant Moule, two officer’s fresh out of the police academy, responded to a narcotics complaint the morning of Aug. 26.
A suspect at that address, identified in the records as Reginald Wilson, fled on foot but Clemons stopped him a few blocks away on Northeast Fifth Terrace. He handcuffed Wilson and placed him on the ground along with the suspect phones and several bills equaling $315 found in the suspect's pants.
Clemons and Moule then retraced the path of the chase. The money was gone when they returned to Wilson's side.
When Clemons asked about the money, other officers on the scene told him Merkel had taken it. The report did not make it clear when Merkel showed up.
The veteran officer told the two rookies he was "gonna take the money and place it into evidence for safekeeping," according to a statement by Moule.
Clemons then told him the money belonged to Wilson, but Merkel told them the suspect could get it back some other time, the report said.
"This is how we do things," Merkel is accused of telling the pair.
Wilson said in a written statement that he overheard Merkel tell the officers they could split the cash.
Merkel later wrote a police report saying he found the money "laying on the grass" on Fifth Avenue. The money was actually lying next to Wilson on Fifth Terrace, the internal affairs report said.
Merkel did not include Wilson's name or personal information in the police report, which would have made it impossible for Wilson to retrieve the cash, said Capt. Rick Maglione of Internal Affairs in a memo to then-Chief Bruce Roberts.
Clemons and Moule told their supervisors the next day about Merkel taking the money.
When asked about his actions, Merkel told investigators he took the money because he was sure the cash did not belong to Wilson, speculating that the suspect may have stolen it from a possibly Haitian victim, according to the Internal Affairs report.
Merkel was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, a police spokeswoman said.
Assistant Chief Robert Carter recommended in November 2007 that Merkel be fired. The investigation by Internal Affairs ended last December.
The State Attorney's Office is also investigating the case.
Authorities say Merkel can appeal his termination and have an independent arbitrator review his case. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will decide whether to bar him from joining other agencies in the state.
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