The supervisor of a Florida police department’s narcotics division was arrested last week after a five-month investigation determined that narcotic painkillers were being stolen from the evidence room and sold on the black market.
It is believed that Police Sergeant William Grimmich, a 25-year veteran of the Sebastian Police Department, whose primary responsibility was locking up the riff-raff of the underground drug trade, used his authority over the evidence locker as an opportunity to smuggle substantial amounts of Oxycodone from the station and distribute it to outside drug dealers.
Ultimately, an interior audit is what led to the discovery of a sizeable amount of missing painkillers that had been previously seized by Grimmich’s team of narcotics officers and processed into evidence. There is speculation that other agents were conspiring with Grimmich and assisting him in his dirty side business to re-distribute the illegal narcotics back onto the city streets. So far, however, the evidence only implicates Grimmich in the crimes.
After noticing some inventory discrepancies with the evidence, Sebastian Police Chief Michelle Morris said she enlisted an outside source to look into the matter. “I wanted an impartial investigation by an outside agency to avoid any appearance of bias,” she said.
“Our ultimate goal is to determine exactly what occurred, who was responsible and whether this was the result of an incompetent work performance or malicious criminal behavior,” Morris continued. “I will not tolerate any misconduct of this nature. While this situation is gravely disappointing, it shows the effectiveness of the good accountability systems we have in place.”
Although Chief Morris told the press on Sunday that she believes Grimmich was stealing the narcotics for his personal use, there seems to be enough evidence to suggest that the officer’s indiscretions were more severe. Grimmich was charged with two felony counts of drug trafficking and tampering with evidence. He is currently being held on $150,000 bond.
Interestingly, while this same situation would cripple the average citizen, causing them to lose their job and endure years of harassment by the criminal justice system, Grimmich is merely on vacation. He has been placed on temporary suspension with pay, with the likelihood that the charges will be dismissed.
