A Florida police officer was arrested after allegedly impersonating a dead man whose body he found during a welfare check in 2022. The authorities claimed that he used the deceased man’s identity for years to take control of his home.
2025 stating his possession of the property dated back to Aug. 2022, just weeks after West’s [Dennis West] death.
Lauderhill Police Officer Brian Louis Sguros forged documents, paid utilities, and used law enforcement databases to orchestrate a property theft scheme before his arrest on multiple felony charges, according to a news release by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. “According to investigators, Sguros filed paperwork with BCPA in Feb. The police stated, “The investigation revealed that the Lauderhill Police officer assisted on a welfare check of a Lauderhill resident in 2022 and, after finding the individual deceased of natural causes, created a complex scheme to take control of the individual’s home.”
“The resident, Dennis West, was deceased inside the home . Following his death, detectives say Sguros became involved in West’s post-death affairs. The investigators say that they didn’t find any evidence suggesting Sguros and West were friends.
The cop even visited the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office posing as West’s friend and told the authorities that he had no living family. Further, they said that Sguros’ claim that West had no living family was untrue.
The investigation revealed that “Sguros paid the taxes and utilities at the home in West’s name. He allegedly used “West’s identification to make it appear that West was still alive to get the city of Lauderhill to issue a permit to facilitate repairs. He is facing several felony charges following the joint investigation conducted by the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office Crimes Against Property Unit.
