OPD cop to be fired for failure to properly investigate

OrlandoSentinel.com
Deputy sheriff being fired for failing to properly investigate Caylee tip
Meter reader who reported possible body in woods in August said deputy who responded was rude to him

By Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writer

9:27 PM EDT, April 10, 2009

An Orange County deputy sheriff accused of improperly investigating a tip that might have led investigators earlier to the body of missing Caylee Marie Anthony was told Friday that the Sheriff's Office plans to fire him.

An internal investigation found Deputy Richard Cain? negligent. He intends to appeal, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Roy Kronk, an Orange County meter reader who found Caylee's remains on Dec. 11, told investigators he'd had called the tip in several times months before the discovery but the deputy who responded -- Cain -- was rude to him.

Click here to see a copy of Cain's interview with sheriff's investigators.

And this is a copy of the sheriff's final finding on the Cain investigation.

Cain did not immediately tell investigators he checked out Kronk's tip in August. Deputies found out about Cain's role only after Kronk alerted authorities. Cain was transferred in January to the supply division, where he will continue to work until the appeal is resolved, sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said.

He was forced to turn in his sworn credentials and agency-issued equipment, including badges, gun, patrol car and radio and is no longer allowed to represent himself as a deputy.

An internal investigation completed March 26 found Cain to have violated Sheriff's Office standards: His performance was deemed unsatisfactory for failing to thoroughly investigate, and he was found to have been untruthful when questioned about the case.

The State Attorney's Office recently released transcripts of taped interviews investigators conducted with Cain a week after the discovery of Caylee's remains in the wooded lot near the Anthony family home in east Orange County.

Cain told investigators different varying versions about what happened in August when he checked out a tip about something suspicious in the woods near the girl's home, the documents show.

In one interview, Cain told investigators he found a couple of trash bags and when he picked up one of the bags, leaves and sticks fell out.

In a different interview a few hours later, Cain said he didn't pick up a bag and he didn't touch anything. He used his baton to poke around what he said he had found: sticks, twigs and "something the size of a leaf."

He said he could have found a piece of something like a garbage bag or a piece of dark clothing.

Kronk waited nearby as Cain checked out the woods.

According to the internal investigation, Kronk told Cain that the bag contained what appeared to be a skull, and Cain admitted that Kronk said he saw a bag he thought might contain bones.

When Cain emerged from the woods, he told Kronk: "I found some stuff in there, but there's nothing in it," according to his deposition.

The investigators, Cpl. Yuri Melich and Sgt. John Allen, asked why he didn't have Kronk lead him to what the meter reader had found.

Cain said he didn't and he acknowledged under questioning that doing so would have been a reasonable thing to do.

The deputy said he called or e-mailed someone, probably Crimeline, about how he checked out the tip in August.

But when asked why he didn't contact investigators after the remains were found Dec. 11, Cain said he thought detectives already had that information because he "thought all this stuff was kind of connected" by computers.

Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel

uh hes a sheriff's deputy.... not an Other Police Department lacke :evil: y

OrlandoSentinel.com
Deputy sheriff being fired for failing to properly investigate Caylee tip
Meter reader who reported possible body in woods in August said deputy who responded was rude to him

By Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writer

9:27 PM EDT, April 10, 2009

An Orange County deputy sheriff accused of improperly investigating a tip that might have led investigators earlier to the body of missing Caylee Marie Anthony was told Friday that the Sheriff's Office plans to fire him.

An internal investigation found Deputy Richard Cain? negligent. He intends to appeal, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Roy Kronk, an Orange County meter reader who found Caylee's remains on Dec. 11, told investigators he'd had called the tip in several times months before the discovery but the deputy who responded -- Cain -- was rude to him.

Click here to see a copy of Cain's interview with sheriff's investigators.

And this is a copy of the sheriff's final finding on the Cain investigation.

Cain did not immediately tell investigators he checked out Kronk's tip in August. Deputies found out about Cain's role only after Kronk alerted authorities. Cain was transferred in January to the supply division, where he will continue to work until the appeal is resolved, sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said.

He was forced to turn in his sworn credentials and agency-issued equipment, including badges, gun, patrol car and radio and is no longer allowed to represent himself as a deputy.

An internal investigation completed March 26 found Cain to have violated Sheriff's Office standards: His performance was deemed unsatisfactory for failing to thoroughly investigate, and he was found to have been untruthful when questioned about the case.

The State Attorney's Office recently released transcripts of taped interviews investigators conducted with Cain a week after the discovery of Caylee's remains in the wooded lot near the Anthony family home in east Orange County.

Cain told investigators different varying versions about what happened in August when he checked out a tip about something suspicious in the woods near the girl's home, the documents show.

In one interview, Cain told investigators he found a couple of trash bags and when he picked up one of the bags, leaves and sticks fell out.

In a different interview a few hours later, Cain said he didn't pick up a bag and he didn't touch anything. He used his baton to poke around what he said he had found: sticks, twigs and "something the size of a leaf."

He said he could have found a piece of something like a garbage bag or a piece of dark clothing.

Kronk waited nearby as Cain checked out the woods.

According to the internal investigation, Kronk told Cain that the bag contained what appeared to be a skull, and Cain admitted that Kronk said he saw a bag he thought might contain bones.

When Cain emerged from the woods, he told Kronk: "I found some stuff in there, but there's nothing in it," according to his deposition.

The investigators, Cpl. Yuri Melich and Sgt. John Allen, asked why he didn't have Kronk lead him to what the meter reader had found.

Cain said he didn't and he acknowledged under questioning that doing so would have been a reasonable thing to do.

The deputy said he called or e-mailed someone, probably Crimeline, about how he checked out the tip in August.

But when asked why he didn't contact investigators after the remains were found Dec. 11, Cain said he thought detectives already had that information because he "thought all this stuff was kind of connected" by computers.

Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel

Hey "Guest"....please take the time to actually READ the story before posting it in the wrong forum. We have enough problems here w/out this BRAVO SIERRA article that belongs on the sheriff's office forum.