And finally… finders keepers

In July 2022 police officer Brian Louis Sguros responded to a welfare check at the home of 71-year-old Dennis West, who had died of natural causes.

Within weeks, Sguros moved into the deceased man’s house and subsequently spent large sums of money renovating it. He claimed to be a friend of West.

Sguros paid the tax and utility bills on the home, used law enforcement databases to run searches on West and is alleged to have forged the dead man’s signature on a permit application.

The situation came to light when West’s lawful heirs sold the property and questions arose about Sguros’ claim to it. Sguros was arrested on 20 October and faces five felony charges, including official misconduct, unlawful use of a deceased person’s identification, fraudulent use of personal identification information and computer-related offences.