A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy found himself on the wrong side of the law Tuesday when he was arrested for grand theft related to a Dec. 2009 bust of a suspected Pompano Beach grow house.
Detective Albury Augustus Burrows, 40, assigned to BSO's Pompano Beach district, was arrested yesterday for third-degree grand theft of $1,200 during an investigation at a house on the 1300 block of Northwest 18th Drive where pot plants were found.
Accotrding to an Internal Affairs report, Burrows, an officer for 11 years, was called to the house to investigate as the officer in charge after deputies found the pot plants.
When Burrows and another detective left the scene to obtain a search warrant, the occupant of the home returned and was arrested. The deputies found a total of $2,452 on the suspect, and when Burrows returned to the scene, he told the deputies to take lunch while they waited for the search warrant and to leave the cash inside the apartment.
When the deputy asked Burrows if he wanted to count the cash to confirm the amount, Burrows said it wasn't necessary, according to the report.
"Don't worry about it, I trust you," Burrows allegedly told the deputy.
Burrows stayed at the scene by himself, with a key to the locked apartment, until a supervisor arrived. When the supervisor and Burrows went into the apartment to count the cash, they arrived at a total of $1,232.00.
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When the warrant was executed, the discrepancy in the totals was discovered.
"Burrows was the sole person at the scene and thus the only person with access to apartment 104 and the money," the report states. "No other person had the means or the opportunity to enter the locked door of apartment 104, remove $1,200.00 out of the stack of bills, and leave behind $1,232.00 out of the total of $2,452.00 which was recovered."
Burrows was booked into a Broward jail last night, records showed, and was released from jail early Wednesday on $1,000 bond.
He has been suspended without pay.
Burrows was one of the recipients of the BSO's Gold Cross Award back in March for an incident involving a robbery suspect in which gunfire was exchanged.
