Three Brevard County sheriff's deputies, schooled in the principle that crime doesn't pay, learned the hard way that collecting nickels doesn't either.

An internal affairs investigation found that three deputies and one communications officer acted improperly when they spent up to 30 minutes gathering 1,415 nickels from the median of Interstate 95 in September.

Deputies Glen Thomas, Samuel Anderson and William Fletcher, along with communications officer Andrew Johnson, were reprimanded.

About 3.7 million nickels littered the road after a U.S. Treasury truck crashed into another truck on Sept. 17. One person was killed, and two people were injured in the wreck just south of Scottsmoor.

Witnesses said they saw three sheriff's vehicles parked on the median with their spotlights illuminating the grassy area and the shiny new nickels.

Despite public warnings at the time from Florida Highway Patrol officials that the coins were the property of the U.S. government, deputies received word that the Secret Service considered the site to be abandoned and would not be coming back for the coins.

Anderson already had submitted his letter of resignation to take a job with another law enforcement agency before the investigation began. Thomas resigned a week after being notified of the inquiry. Fletcher was suspended without pay for two weeks and was reassigned. Johnson was given a written letter of warning.

Johnson was off duty at the time and was riding along with a deputy in hopes of becoming a law enforcement officer.

As part of the reprimand, Sheriff Jack Parker said Johnson's actions prove he "does not have the maturity or judgement necessary to take on this responsibility." Parker said he is not willing to endorse Johnson's attendance at a law enforcement academy.

During the investigation, Fletcher said he was simply mimicking the actions of Thomas and Anderson -- two senior deputies -- and would have never collected the nickels on his own. But Parker said that instead of joining the other men, Fletcher should have been trying to stop them.

In a memorandum, Parker said the sincerity of Fletcher's apology kept him from being fired.

"Your actions have resulted in the loss of the public's trust and brought ridicule upon yourself and the other member's of the sheriff's office," Parker wrote. "Your fellow employees do not deserve to be embarrassed in this manner, but they must suffer through it because the actions of one member affects us all."

The men were spotted by fellow deputies as they scooped up the loose change about 1 a.m. Sept. 20. They collected $70.75.

The report states that even though the Secret Service considered the site to be abandoned, the men acted improperly for personal gain during work time.

Thomas, a 20-year deputy, was notified of the internal affairs investigation on Sept. 30 and turned in a letter of resignation on Oct. 8, effective Oct. 9.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...NTPAGECAROUSEL