ST. CLOUD, Fla. — A Central Florida police officer is accused of stealing and using the credit card of a dead person she observed during an investigation, authorities said.
Dianne Ferreira, 25, was arrested Tuesday and charged with the use of the personal identification information of a deceased person, fraudulent use of a credit card over $200 and theft by taking or retaining possession of a card, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Ferreira was fired without pay, St. Cloud police Chief Douglas Goerke told reporters.
According to authorities, Ferreira confessed to taking credit card information from a death investigation scene she was working on April 3, WTSP-TV reported. She had responded to a 911 “medical call” and the victim had gone into cardiac arrest and died at the scene, authorities said.
Police said that Ferreira allegedly took photographs of the deceased man’s credit card and then used it to make purchases, according to the Miami Herald. The man’s widow contacted the St. Cloud Police Department on April 14 to report strange charges on her spouse’s credit card, WTSP reported.
“As a member of law enforcement, it makes me sick and nauseous whenever we have to do something like this,” Lopez said during the news conference. “But you know what, we treat them like no other person. Everyone is held accountable for their actions.
" I just want people to know that it’s not every law enforcement officer that (conducts) themself in this way. the chief added. “We take action and we arrest them because they are a direct reflection of what our integrity and what we stand for as chiefs and sheriffs and law enforcement leaders.”
Deputies in Osceola County said a St. Could police officer has been arrested for credit card fraud. https://t.co/ajSt24PNfH
— WFTV Channel 9 (@WFTV) May 10, 2023
Purchases included seven mobile food orders, a hotel stay and a meal at Wendy’s, according to the Herald. Ferreira allegedly attempted to buy eyelash extensions but the purchase was declined because the card had been reported stolen, the newspaper reported.
About $500 in charges were approved, officials said.
Ferreira was booked into the Osceola County Jail and was released after posting $4,000 bail, the Herald reported.
“You’ve got to be a pretty cold-hearted person to go to someone’s house where her husband or her loved one has just passed away and going to start taking snapshots of a credit card,” Lopez said during the news conference. “That’s pretty cold, you know, pretty ruthless.”
Goerke agreed.
“To take advantage of a person in a time of need is absolutely reprehensible,” Goerke told reporters. “The information uncovered during this investigation shocked and appalled me. It directly violated everything expected of our law enforcement officers.”
