A suspended Broward
Sheriff's detective under house arrest while facing trial on grand theft,
official misconduct and other charges took off his GPS monitor and visited a
Pompano Beach strip club.
June 06--FORT LAUDERDALE -- A suspended Broward Sheriff's detective under
house arrest while facing trial on grand theft, official misconduct and other
charges took off his GPS monitor and visited a Pompano Beach strip club, where
deputies arrested him Monday night.
Prosecutors had already argued twice to have Brent Wooddell's $2,000 bond
revoked, first after he allegedly sent an intimidating text message to a
witness in his case, and again after he was accused of fleeing from the scene
of an accident while on his way to a court hearing. Broward Circuit Judge Carlos
Rebollo allowed Wooddell to stay out of jail both times.
According to an arrest warrant, Wooddell took off his ankle monitor on
Sunday and was told by his pre-trial release officer to turn himself in Monday
morning. When he didn't show, officials demanded his arrest.
Deputies found him Tuesday at 9:20 p.m. at the Cheetah strip club in
Pompano Beach. He was in custody at the Broward Main Jail as of Tuesday
afternoon.
Wooddell was arrested in September 2011 after a sting operation allegedly
caught him in the act of stealing $1,340 from an oxycodone dealer he had just
arrested. The dealer was actually an undercover Miami-Dade police officer.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the phony suspect had pills and $7,340 in a
blue bag when he was taken into custody, but Wooddell only turned in $6,000
when he got to the Deerfield Beach substation.
Officials said the undercover operation was captured on video and audio
recordings.
Wooddell has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his criminal
case.
On his way to a formal arraignment in February, Wooddell's car crashed into
another vehicle onFlorida's Turnpike, according to court records. No one was
injured in the crash, but Wooddell didn't report it for fear of being late to
his court date.
Prosecutors didn't learn about that violation until May, at which point
Assistant State Attorney Adriana Alcalde-Padron urged Rebollo to revoke
Wooddell's bond. But Rebollo kept Wooddell under house arrest, ordering the
suspended detective to remain at home except when shopping or traveling to and
from his job at a Hyundai dealership in Lake Park.
A month earlier, Alcalde-Padron accused Wooddell of sending text messages
to a witness in the case. At that time, Rebollo reminded the defendant to avoid
contact with witnesses as one of the conditions of his release.
"We have moved to revoke his bond twice," Alcalde-Padron said
Tuesday. "This is his third violation. Hopefully, he will now remain in
custody at least until it's time for his trial."
In addition to the grand theft and official misconduct charges, Woddell is
accused of tampering with evidence, falsifying records and delivery of
steroids. If convicted of all charges, he faces more than 30 years in prison.
Wooddell's lawyer, Alberto Milian, declined to comment Tuesday.