When the horror of yesterdays mass shooting spread across the news, Thomas Sanfords neighbors recognized the man in the photo, and they recognized his truck adorned with American flags, too.
Watch Ross Jones' video report: Council candidate recalls 'very dark' conversation with Grand Blanc Twp. church shooter
Family members were seen coming and going all day Monday at Sanford's home. To a person, his neighbors told 7 News Detroit that Sanford was reclusive. Two said that, during the winter, he would plow their driveways free of charge. Another knew that Sanford loved to hunt, but everyone agreed that he lived an isolated life.
As one neighbor said off camera: He was not someone you
could
get to know.
One man who encountered Sanford just recently was a candidate running for city council here in Burton. Kris Johns was going door to door last week, talking to potential voters when he says he came into contact with Sanford, who was outside in his driveway.
He said the two spoke for about 20 minutes. The tone was pleasant, but the content was unforgettable and would foreshadow Sundays horrific mass shooting.
"He then shared about himself, that he was a Marine, went to Iraq, experienced some drug addiction issues," John said.
"He asked about my position about guns, I said I support the second amendment, which I believe was a satisfactory answer. The very next question almost was: What do you know about Mormons?" Johns said.
"For him to just have the very pointed and direct questions about the Church of Latter-day Saints, thats really what shook me. Religion is not a common topic, let alone the Church of Latter-day Saints," Johns continued. "I will never forget this interaction. Even outside of what happenedGod forbid on Sunday morninghe was a person who was unforgettable."
Johns says the conversation was so jarring, he actually sent a voice memo about it to a friend in the Mormon church. He shared it with us today.
"He went on a tirade about the Church of Latter-day Saints. It was something else," the message says.
"He said, at the end, Mormons are the anti-Christ. I mean, that is just something I will never forget," Johns told us today.
Prior to Sunday, Sanford was largely not on the radar of police. In Burton, where he lives, Chief Brian Ross said that the department had never received a call to Sanford's house or taken in calls about him.
In 2011, records show that Sanford was arrested for burglary; however, theres no indication that he was ever charged.
Today by phone, 7 News Detroit spoke with Sanfords father, Tom, who did not want to appear on camera, but wanted us to share this:
I feel so bad about the families that were affected by this, aside from ours. Were not the only ones going through this devastation. We are beside ourselvesThomas was a great father, a great husband, a great sonthis one bad act does not define him as a person.
Watch the full investigation in the video player below: Ex-Melvindale chief says he was fired after trying to sideline controversial cop
Some people should be cops and some people should not, said Chad Hayse, who was fired as Melvindale chief in 2016. Clearly, his behavior over the course of the last nine, 10 years hasnt gotten better. It escalated.
Melvindale Police Lieutenant Matthew Furman is off the street today, suspended without pay after being charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor over three alleged assaults.
Furman has denied that he did anything wrong.
Watch below: Controversial Melvindale Lt. at center of WXYZ investigations facing charges
Controversial Melvindale Lt. at center of WXYZ investigations facing charges
Hayse says the chargesand related litigation filed against the cityall could have been avoided had city leaders not retaliated against him back in 2016.
Right is right and wrong is wrong, Hayse said in a recent interview. (Furman) was doing wrong and needed to be held accountable. It cost me. It cost me my career.
Hayse said he chose to break his silence after hearing recent comments from Melvindales city attorney, Larry Coogan, decrying the actions of Furman and others.
When you look at these videos of the conduct that took place by some of these officers, its reprehensible, Coogan said at a city council meeting in June. Its absolutely reprehensible.
Hayse said Coogans comments did not appear genuine.
Hes upset because the bodycam reveals all these actions. People are seeing all these actions. He didnt care about the exact same actions nine years ago that werent on bodycam, he said.
The controversy came to a head back in 2016, when Hayse was still Melvindales police chief. Furman was a corporal in his fourth year with the department, towing lots of vehicles and racking up citizen complaints.
I couldnt go into the number of complaints that he generated from traffic stops, I couldnt, Hayse said, adding that Furman had dozens and dozens of complaints.
Watch below: Melvindale Lt. stopped her over an expired tab, then tased her in front of her children
Melvindale Lt. stopped her over an expired tab, then tased her in front of her children
That year, Furman would be accused of assault twice. In June, he would detain a robbery suspect who said Furman slammed his head into the police car while he was handcuffed.
A lieutenant reported that he witnessed this, and told the man he would not sweep that incident under the rug. Another officer there said, under oath, that Furman went way over the line and split the mans head open. Furman claimed the man injured himself.
The following month, Furman would be accused of using excessive force when he tackled a man to the ground who, a fellow officer said, had been completely cooperative.
We had instances in back-to-back months with veteran officers and newer officers in both occasions come forward and say: 'This is wrong,' Hayse said. Those actions were wrong.
Hayse would notify city leadershipincluding Larry Cooganthat he was suspending Cpl. Furman without pay, saying he wanted to terminate him or have him appear before a trial board.
Five days after I formally requested to terminate him, they suspended me pending termination, Hayse said.
Watch below: Controversial Melvindale lieutenant fends off claim of excessive force involving Taser
Controversial Melvindale lieutenant fends off claim of excessive force involving Taser
At a hearing, the city would accuse Hayse of a litany of misconduct, including violating the citys social media policy, using profanity to describe other city officials, providing false statements to the public safety committee and improperly issuing discipline on Matthew Furman. Hayse denied it all.
Why did they want to keep Furman so badly, in your view? asked Channel 7s Ross Jones.
He makes them tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, every year, in the tow feesthey were making a ton of money by him towing cars," Hayse said.
According to court records, Furman was responsible for nearly 80% of the tows in the entire department
In fact, when Furman was off on vacation, the city saw towing revenues plummet. At a public meeting, Coogan took note: the reduction in tows means a reduction in revenue for the city, he said according to a transcript.
Were still in a deficit elimination plan and that concerns me, I mean, I dont think anybody wants the State of Michigan coming in," Coogan said.
After the citys top revenue generator was suspended and faced possible termination, Hayse said the city fired him and kept Furman.
Hayse would later sue the city, alleging wrongful termination.
He gave proper discipline that maybe, just maybe would have stopped what weve recently seen, had somebody actually cared about the truth, said Deborah Gordon, Hayse's attorney.
The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum.
In the years that would follow, Furman would face more assault allegations. He was charged in 2019 when a man claimed he threw him down a flight of stairs. Furman denied it and pleaded no contest to neglect of duty.
He would be charged over a 2021 stomping of a man who led police on a high-speed chase and over two separate Tasings three years later: one of a mother outside her daughters school and another of a man who drove with a suspended license.
Furman has denied any wrongdoing.
Larry Coogan would not agree to an interview for this story. 7 News approached him at a recent city council meeting.
Why in 2016, when the city tried to fire him the first time, wasnt Mathew Furman fired? asked Channel 7s Ross Jones.
Youd have to ask the former chief, and the subsequent chiefs since then, Coogan said repeatedly.
Coogan says keeping Furman had nothing to do with generating revenue, and he said firing Hayse was the city councils idea, not his.
In 2016, Nicole Barnes was the council president and wanted Furman to keep his job. Now Nicole
Shkira, she is the citys mayor.
As somebody who tried to make sure Matthew Furman kept his job in 2016, were you wrong to do that? Jones asked.
I cant really say yes or no to that, Shkira said. She declined to answer most of our questions about Furman, citing the pending charges against him.
I make a plea to the citizens: you guys need to keep an eye on what is going on and what is happening with your taxpayer dollars, said attorney Deborah Gordon.
Ms. Barnes, who is currently the mayor, was directly involved with everything that happened with Chad Hayse, and everything that happened with Matthew Furmanpeople, wake up!
Melvindales mayor would not say if she regrets passing up the chance to fire Furman almost a decade ago, but Coogan admits hed like a do-over.
In retrospect, looking back, it would have been nice. It would have avoided a lot of litigation. Absolutely, he said.
Hayse said he feels vindicated.
It makes you wonder why they didnt care nine years ago when their police officers in their own city came forward, he said.
Furman declined to be interviewed, but through his attorney, released a lengthy statement telling a very different story. You can read the full statement below
He said Furmans tows were always within the law, and that he was encouraged to tow vehicles by Chad Hayse while he was chief.
He claimed Hayse retaliated against Furman because the chief favored a different towing company, which Hayse denies.
He also said the claims of assault made against Furman in 2016 were false because they never led to criminal charges or punishment.
Finally, he says attorney Larry Coogan told Furman in 2016 that he never should have been suspended by Hayse in the first place, and that he has a recording of Coogan where he said Furman was being singled out and attacked.
For his part, Coogan said Chief Hayse faced termination not for disciplining Furman, but because he did so without formally serving him with internal charges. Hayse disputed that.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
At a heated House Oversight hearing in Lansing Tuesday, the head of the department overseeing Childrens Protective Services faced questions over how the state responded to a Monroe County family found living in squalor.
Watch Ross's full report: Lawmakers grill MDHHS director over CPS's response to family found living in tent
Director Elizabeth Hertel defended the response of CPS investigators who were alerted multiple times to a family, including two young children, found living in a tent. Inside was food, a space heater and a mattress on the ground.
The only bathroom available was in the home next door.
Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough says his deputies were stymied on three different occasions by state officials after receiving calls over an 18-month period, told that the conditions the family was living in were sufficient.
It was obviousthat the living conditions were challenging and the children definitely appeared to be unbathed, Sheriff Troy Goodnough said.
The final time, they were living in a car: one of the children had severe head lice, deputies said, and said she hadnt bathed in months.
Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough said his deputies didnt want to separate the children from their parents, but did want Childrens Protective Services to help put the family in a better place.
Lawmakers upset
When I look at a $34 billion budgetand I show those photos to any citizen in the state of Michigan and I say to them that Child Protective Services visited this dwelling and deemed it to meet the standards of safety, they would say that Im crazy, said Rep. Jay DeBoyer, a Republican from Clay Twp who chairs the House Oversight Committee.
Hertel pushed back, saying that CPS investigators did not find that the living conditions constituted neglect, and that the lawas written todayprevented them from doing more.
It is not the role of the department to tell families how they should live, Hertel said, stressing that poverty alone does not constitute neglect.
No, the role of the department is to protect children, DeBoyer said. Which quite frankly is not being done herewe write tickets to people who let their dogs live in that condition in the winter time.
As 7 News Detroit first reported last month, the first call to police was made on Nov. 30, 2023, when an anonymous caller reported seeing children living in a tent behind a home in Temperance, Michigan, about 20 minutes north of Toledo.
The tent was covered with a tarp, deputies noted, and living inside were two small children, a mother and grandfather.
Deputies were told that the childrens mother was dealing with serious health problems and was short of funds.
When deputies encountered the family again the following year, again living in the tent, both of the children could be heard coughing and had been taken to urgent care the day prior.
Sheriff Goodnough says his deputies were told by the agency that the family's living conditions were sufficient.
In her comments Tuesday, Hertel reiterated that position, but did say that while the children and family may not have been subject to neglect, the childrens welfare was finethey had access to food and waterwe know that no one wants to be living in a tent. Probably.
Lawmakers from both parties shared their frustration.
Rep. Angela Rigas, a Republican from Caledonia, repeatedly asked Hertel whether she would let her children live in similar conditions.
Rep. Reggie Miller, a Democrat from Van Buren Twp., asked: Do you really believe its acceptable for our kids to grow up in the state in tents and squalorwhile soiled and having lice in their hair?
No, I dont think its okay, Hertel said. Which is why weve taken the steps, proactively, to pair up staff that we have internally to the department with child welfare.
Connecting families with resources
Hertel said that while caseworkers can only investigate potential abuse or neglect, her department is working to do more by pairing CPS caseworkers with eligibility specialists.
They can connect families with resources like temporary housing, help with finding a job or food and follow a family going forward.
Within five months of rolling out the program two years ago, Hertel said the agency was able to connect 1,000 families with services.
In this case, Hertel said the family did spend time living in a shelter, temporarily. But they would eventually be back on the street, found earlier this year living in their car.
By then, one of the children was found with severe head lice and said she'd not bathed in months.
We were not aware that the shelter placement didnt work out, and the reason was that we didnt have an ongoing case with the family, Hertel said, noting that eligibility specialists are not yet deployed in every Michigan county, including Monroe.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
The recent shooting death of Latricia Green, a Detroit nurse allegedly killed by her ex-husband after obtaining a personal protection order against him, illustrates a serious gap in how Michigan protects those living in fear, advocates for domestic abuse survivors say.
As 7 News Detroit first reported last week, despite a judge granting a PPO against Mario Green on July 21, the Detroit Police Department says Green was never served with the order.
Watch Ross Jones' video report below: Paying a price: Michigan abuse survivors charged to have PPOs served by police
Under Michigan law, it is the responsibility of an alleged victim to make sure that a PPO is served on the person theyre seeking protection from. Often, they have to dig into their own pockets.
Each one of these barriers thats erected for people seeking help and seeking safety is another avenue for a perpetrator to potentially cause harm," said Johanna Kononen, the director of law and policy for the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.
"Theres no cost to calling 911, right?" Kononen asked. "This is an extension of that. This is that type of safety that we should be offering to victims of crime."
Escalating behavior
In the months before she would be killed, Latricia Green lived in fear.
According to court records, she had called Detroit Police over a dispute with her ex-husband Mario Green back in March. By April, she said hed shown up to her job, trying to enter her office.
In June, Green had called her job and threatened her colleagues, she wrote. By July, she told a judge that her ex-husband had broken into her car, cutting up her clothes and shoes
Her July application for a PPOher second in two monthswas only approved after she told a judge that Mario Green followed her, trying to turn his car into mineI feel that the system has now let me down each time that I have tried to make reports on this man, she wrote.
I am asking for help before this goes too far, and things are too late.
If you're seeking help in filing a PPO, Michigan Legal Help offers resources online.Click here to access the State of Michigan VOICEDV hotline for 24-hour phone, text and chat featuresTo find providers in your area who specialize in resources for sexual abuse and domestic assault survivors, click here.
Once a PPO is granted, petitioners in Michigan have three options to have it served.
At no charge, they can choose an adultoften a family member or friendto serve the order, but that comes with risks.
Theyve asked for protection from that person for a reason, Kononen said. They know that theyre dangerous and they know what theyre capable of.
A petitioner can try to serve the person through a certified letter, but that relies on the accused agreeing to sign a piece of paper proving they were served.
The third option, which advocates say is best, is having law enforcement or a process server serve the accused. But in Michiganunlike most statesdoing so comes at a cost.
In the case of Latricia Green, it is unclear why the PPO was never served.
'Access to justice'
How much you pay depends on how far police have to travel. The Wayne County Sheriffs Office has a fee schedule, which prices as $28 and as high as $99.50.
In Macomb County, prices start at $60 and can reach as much as $79, according to sheriffs officials.
In Oakland County, PPO service ranges from $26 to about $82.
Experts with the Battered Womens Justice Project, which keeps track of how protective orders are served nationwide, say that by charging for PPOs to be served, abuse victims are forced to clear yet another hurdle.
Its an access to justice issue, said Monica Player, the director of the National Center on Protection Orders for the BWJP. We dont want victims who have fled their home to be forced to bear the costs related to accessing protective relief.
State Senator Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) says its clear the law needs to change.
In an interview Thursday with 7 News Detroit, she says shes preparing legislation that would bring Michigan in line with most other states so that those living in fear dont have to pay to have a PPO served.
The fact is we know people are struggling right now. Some people may absolutely have the financial means to be able to pay $28 to $100, but there are certainly some people who most likely cannot, Chang said.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
A long-simmering scandal is coming to a boil in Lansing, leading to raids, a criminal investigation and questions over a connected contributor.
See Ross Jones' full story in the video below
Questions continue to swirl in $20M earmark probe involving Whitmer donor
At the center of the outrage is a longtime donor to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who took in millions of dollars through an earmark put into the state budget. It was supposed to bring international businesses to Michigan, but never did.
Now, lawmakers from both parties are asking what role the governor's office may have played in helping to connect an influential donor with money shes accused of misspending.
For years, Fay Beydoun has been a fixture in Democratic politics, donating tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats across the state and more than $20,000 to Whitmers campaigns. She even hosted a fundraiser for the governor at her home, raising $13,500.
Separately, Whitmer appointed Beydoun to the executive board of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, or MEDC, the states economic growth arm.
For years, Beydoun worked at the influential American Arab Chamber of Commerce in Dearborn. It was there that she and other leaders first discussed pitching the MEDC on providing the chamber with grant money to help spur business investment.
I had insisted that she begin to look into state funding and other funding, recalled Ahmed Chebbani, the longtime chairman of the chamber of commerce who attended the meetings with Beydoun and the MEDC.
But despite promising discussions, he says the funding that the chamber sought from the state never came. Then he received a call from Beydoun, he said.
'Watch out, youre going to hear some news,' he recalls Beydoun telling him. I guess an award was made."
'Oh, great, is it for us?' Chebbani asked. She said, 'No, its mine.' And this was actually shocking. "
Beydoun, he said, would be breaking off from the chamber, accepting a $20 million state grant for her own business incubator program. Her new non-profitGlobal Link Internationalwas incorporated within days of the state budget being passed.
I guess betrayal is an easy word to say, Chebbani said when asked about his reaction.
I felt like a knife went through me. Never imagined someone whom I had supported as a female directorand she knows thatwent out of my way to protect her and encourage her and promote herobviously I wasnt expecting that from her, he said.
Just as shocking, according to Chebbani, was learning how Beydoun would spend some of that money. As The Detroit News was first to report, more than $4,500 went to a high-end coffee maker. The Jura Z 10 came in diamond white and with all the bells and whistles, including a $249 cup warmer.
Tens of thousands of dollars were spent on office furniture, and more than $2,000 on a single executive office chair, according to receipts shared with the MEDC.
More than $11,000 went to buy a round-trip plane ticket to Budapest, where Beydoun flew business class.
$40,800 went to lease two fully-furnished apartments. Beydoun reportedly said they could be used for startups lured to the state, and more than a hundred thousand dollars was doled out to consultants and attorneys.
It was a shock. It was things that were not normally reasonable, Chebbani said. I would never, personally, as a chairman, allow a grant to be used for such purposes.
Most polarizing of all was Beydouns salary: $550,000.
In records filed with the state, Beydoun would defend her salary, calling it in line with compensation of executives from organizations with similar missions and budgets.
But she did pay back the money for the coffee maker, and reimbursed about half the price for the business class ticket to Budapest. She said she also paid back the money for the fully-furnished apartments, according to The Detroit News.
Reached by phone, Fay Beydoun declined an on-camera interview for this story, referring questions to her attorney, who also declined comment.
Previously, she said her business incubator program is based on her belief that "attracting foreign talent to Michigan is a laudable public purpose that will not only yield immense economic benefits to the state but will also contribute to the cultural vibrancy which forms the bedrock of American innovation."
She also stressed her decades of experience as a successful businesswoman and said that while reimbursed some of the questioned expenses related to the grant, she rejects any insinuations of wrongdoing and says that shes been fully transparent since her work began.
Rep. Jay DeBoyer, who heads the House Oversight Committee currently probing the $20 million grant, said the grant demands plenty of scrutiny.
You have exactly zero experience, and one of the first things you do is pay yourself a half million dollars? DeBoyer asked. That jumps off the page at me.
When questions were raised about how the earmark made its way into the state budget, Whitmers office wouldnt comment on its role, but said it was a former House Speaker Jason Wentworth who sponsored the grant. Wentworth has said he did no such thing, according to The Detroit News.
Im not opposed, in theory, to the right (business) incubator, DeBoyer said. But I believe we have to have a lot more guardrails around it.
Last year, Attorney General Dana Nessels office began to probe the grant, even raiding Beydouns Farmington Hills home and the MEDC Headquarters in Lansing.
No oneincluding Beydounhas been charged with any crimes. Nessel has said the governor is not a target of the probe.
In July, Whitmer addressed the Beydoun controversy for the first time.
Im very troubled by what I have come to read in newspapers, she said and any individual grantee who gets money and is not lawful with it or is inappropriate with those dollars should expect to be held accountable, she told reporters.
To say that Im very disappointed would be not nearly strong enough language.
In March, following outrage over the grant and Beydouns spending, the MEDC terminated the deal altogether. Of the $10 million doled out to Beydoun so far, the MEDC wants $8.2 million of it back.
Neil Thanedar is Executive Director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, which helps follow the money in Lansing.
There was not a single startup that was actually incentivized to move to Michigan, he said. In this case, there was all operating costs and no investments.
Thanedar says earmarks benefiting the politically connected are nothing new in Lansing. Often buried in budgets or passed with little information known even to lawmakers, he said new rules to require earmark transparency could make deals like this one harder to come by.
I think a lot of these things were happening five or ten years ago, they just werent being investigated this loudly, he said.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
In her application, Green said her ex-husband, Mario Green, was stalking her and that he continued to call my job and threaten to meet employees outside and showed up to my job and tried to enter my office without my approval to get to me.
The judge denied that PPO, but just over a month later on July 20, Latricia would seek another.
This time, she said her ex-husbands behavior had escalated.
Since I was denied, he has now been able to break into my car and cut up my clothes, shoes and steal belongings from me and he followed me (on) multiple occasions (and) has tried to break my car window, she wrote.
I noticed him following me from Oak Park all the way back to the city and on Woodward and the Blvd. he continued to try and turn his car into mine and block me off. He has continued to call my job (and) said he will not stop or stop coming after me.
I have tried being cordial because I feel that the system has now let me down each time that I have tried to make reports on this man. My father was murdered and now with this situation I am now in mental distress and scared not knowing what to do, Latricia Green wrote in her July 20 application.
I have to constantly look over my shoulder to make sure this man is not following me to hurt me like he has done in the past with physical abuse. I am asking for help before this goes too far, and things are too late.
This time on July 21, the Wayne County judge granted the PPO, deeming Mario Green to pose a threat to his ex-wife.
But there was a problem, according to DPD Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald.
Unfortunately, (the PPO) was not served on her ex-husband, said DPD Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald. So it almost brings us here today.
According to the Wayne County Third Circuit Court website, a PPO can be served by a process server or court officer, through a third party or by certified mail.
Mario Green had prior convictions of aggravated stalking back in 2001 and spent almost six years in prison for arson before being released in 2012, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
Repeated allegations of misconduct didnt stop Steve Perrys rise within the same city he was accused of stealing from.
See Ross Jones' full investigation in the video below 'I'm shocked.' Fraud, theft and forgery allegations didn't stop ex-Detroit cop's rise
As 7 News Detroit first reported in June, Perry has worked as a police officer, a fire inspector and a court officer for the City of Detroit despite being repeatedly accused of theft and spending time in jail.
But newly obtained investigative records show that Perrys history of alleged misconduct began years earlier than first understood and included allegations of forging police records that alarmed state officials.
Almost all of the findings were news to the departments that hired him.
Today, DPDs internal affairs division is investigating claims that Perry committed payroll fraud while he was a fire lieutenant, probing questions over nearly $140,000 in overtime that led him to resign earlier this year.
The method for which he was submitting and getting compensated for overtime, it seems pretty blatant to be fraudulent, said Commander Michael McGinnis, who heads DPDs professional standards division.
The departments investigation into Perry began in April.
Clearly, this individual doesnt hold the character that is required to serve as a law enforcement officer, McGinnis said.
Perry was hired by the fire department after being jailed over theft as a Detroit police officer. He was accused in 2009 of stealing nearly $30,000 from an auto theft tip line, ultimately pleading to a misdemeanor.
It wasn't even the first time Perry had been accused of theft while an officer.
Five years earlier, while still a police officer, he was accused of submitting fictitious court appearance notices to collect extra pay.
That investigation found evidence that he was turning in court slips for cases that he wasnt necessarily subpoenaed on, McGinnis said.
Perry claimed he attended dozens of court hearings that the investigation found didnt actually happen. Instead, he got paid for conversing with officers while off-duty to the tune of $3,883, according to DPD.
An investigation sustained findings of misconduct, but for reasons even DPD cant explain today, nothing seems to have happened to Perry until four years later, when he lost his job over the tip line theft.
Two years after Perry lost his job as an officer, he would face allegations of forgery when he tried to get his law enforcement license reactivated.
According to the state agency that licenses officers, Perry presented what he said was an investigators report from his 2009 theft case, claiming that information from 4 informants exonerated him.
Watch below: Ex-fire inspector, cop accused of theft now suspended as Detroit court officer Ex-fire marshal, cop accused of theft now suspended as Detroit court officer
When the state shared the investigation with DPD, they said it wasnt real. Perry would be accused of forging it and later admitted hed generated the report on his own in his efforts to avoid the embarrassment of the real investigation.
The state denied his application, deeming him ineligible to re-apply and referring the case to the Attorney General, who did not ultimately bring charges.
Perry would go on to work for the city twice more.
Chief Judge William McConico says the 36
th
District Court didnt know about almost any of Perrys background when it hired him in 2018 as a court officera job he was actively working until Junebut said he did disclose his 2009 conviction from the auto theft case.
Are you surprised that after all these allegationsincluding going to jailhes not only found more jobs, but jobs in law enforcement? asked Channel 7s Ross Jones.
Yes, McConico said. Theres no other wayI'm shocked.
Perry remains suspended from the 36
th
District Court, which said their current hiring standards would not have allowed him to be hired today.
I cant speak to why the fire department hired him," McConico said. "I cant speak to why we hired him, because I dont have any contact with the previous court administrator. But he has received a lot of chances, and hes run out of chances here.
Perry has not been charged with any crimes related to the alleged overtime fraud out of the Detroit Fire Department, but DPD says they are close to submitting a warrant to Wayne County's prosecutor.
A spokesman for City of Detroit said Perry was hired by the fire department at a time when the city didn't have a "do not re-hire" list for troubled former employees. They use one now.
Perry did not respond to repeated attempts to reach him for comment.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
Login
