Two Fayette
County sheriff's deputies were arrested Thursday and a former deputy was cited
following an investigation into missing guns.
Sgt. Merle
McDaniel, 55, Maj. Chris Tudor, 37, and former Sgt. Bill Beers, 47, were
charged after an internal investigation at the Fayette County sheriff's office.
The investigation revealed that guns confiscated by McDaniel and Beers had not
been booked into the office's property vault.
It was later
discovered that two of the weapons had been sold at pawn shops, Sheriff Kathy
Witt said at a news conference Thursday.
All but one of
the guns have since been recovered and either booked into the sheriff's vault
or returned to their owners. If the missing gun cannot be found, its owner will
be reimbursed, Witt said.
"We are
continuing to work diligently ... to locate that firearm," she said.
McDaniel was
charged with two counts of theft by unlawful taking for failing to book six
weapons, according to court documents. Beers was charged with three counts of theft
by failure to make required disposition after allegedly failing to book eight
weapons.
Tudor was cited
for official misconduct, accused of creating a false report to cover up four
missing guns, according to court records.
Beers and Tudor
both declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday. McDaniel could not be
reached.
Rumors that
guns had gone missing had spread to the media in recent weeks. Following
inquiries from several news organizations, Witt held a news conference at
Fayette District Court on Thursday. She was flanked by officials from the
sheriff's office and the Lexington police department.
Witt said she
was "tremendously disappointed" at the alleged conduct of the three
veteran deputies.
"The
actions taken by these individuals are unacceptable and have resulted in swift
action to relieve these individuals of their duties," she said.
Beers resigned
last week. McDaniel and Tudor were suspended without pay while the
investigation continued.
Witt said an
internal investigation began several weeks ago when she was alerted to a single
weapon that was unaccounted for. During that investigation, it came to light
that multiple guns were missing and criminal charges might be filed.
The subsequent
criminal investigation was handled by the sheriff's office and reviewed by
Lexington police, Witt said.
"I'm
satisfied that it's a very thorough investigation," Police Chief Ronnie
Bastin said.
Witt declined
to comment about some aspects of the investigation because she said it could
affect the criminal case. She said the sheriff's office was reviewing policies
to prevent such acts from occurring again.
During the news
conference, Witt also gave a brief update on the status of a separate internal
inquiry into allegations that a sheriff's deputy had tipped off registered sex
offenders to an upcoming compliance check. According to documents obtained by
the Herald-Leader in January, several sex offenders said they knew federal
agents would be coming because they were told by a sheriff's deputy.
That inquiry
has stalled because the sheriff's deputy has resigned, Witt said. He resigned
before he could be interviewed by a disciplinary board.