Several law enforcement agencies are investigating allegations of theft and other potential crimes believed to have involved an employee of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego and its union store.
Mike O'Deane, President of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego (DSA), alerted union members via email earlier this week that he was made aware of "discrepancies involving purchases made using DSA funds" by the union's former store manager.
The employee involved has been terminated, O'Deane also confirmed in the letter.
After the union was notified of these incidents, it launched an internal audit and determined potential criminal theft had taken place. The union, whose office is in Poway, filed a report with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to investigate.
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Lt. Alex Navarro, a Sheriff's Department spokesperson, confirmed that on the morning of Jan. 31, a deputy from the department's Poway station responded to the union's office to investigate "a report of a potential theft by an employee."
Navarro added, "No Sheriff's Department employees are implicated in any wrongdoing at this time and we do not believe that there will be."
The initial reports to the union, and their subsequent audit further uncovered other instances of theft spanning over the past year, as well as "improprieties found related to the sale, purchase and transfer of firearms" at the union store.
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These discoveries led to the union also notifying the California Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) of the incidents, requesting they conduct an investigation into any possible firearms related violations.
"ATF is aware of the allegations," said ATF Spokesperson Ginger Colbrun, adding, "However, ATF does not comment on whether an individual or a store is under investigation."
Navarro was also unable to provide any further information citing the ongoing investigation; however, he confirmed no arrests had been made.
NBC 7 reached out to the employee involved in the union's allegations, but they did not provide a comment related to the claims. NBC 7 is not naming the employee, as they have not been charged or named in a criminal allegation.
