BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — A detective for a Florida sheriff’s office has resigned following his arrest on charges of forgery and falsifying public records.
Polk County Sheriff’s officials said in a news release that 31-year-old Dennis Jones Jr. didn’t explain himself when he was arrested Tuesday.
An investigation found Jones falsified two waivers of prosecution in May in an investigation involving a boy and girl who were in a relationship. Officials say Jones wrote that he went to both homes and that both sets of parents asked not to press charges. In a follow-up, another detective visited the parents in August and collected their sworn statements that they’d neither met with Jones nor signed the waivers.
The report says Jones also falsified documents while investigating an allegation of improper discipline at a daycare center. In that investigation, Jones wrote in a report that he met with the daycare director, a teacher’s assistant and several students. The sheriff's office says in a follow-up interview, the director and teacher's assistant provided sworn statements and proof that they never met with Jones.
Jones is charged with two counts of a public servant falsifying official records, one count forgery and one count uttering false instrument
Jones was hired as a deputy in July 2013, and became a detective in October 2017.
