A “cold-hearted” Central Florida police officer was arrested Tuesday, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a police report, Dianne Ferreira, of the St. Cloud Police Department, about 25 miles southeast of Orlando, responded to a routine 911 “medical call” on April 3. The victim was in cardiac arrest and died.
While in the home, the 25-year-old woman is accused of snapping pictures of the deceased man’s credit card and then proceeded to use it to make purchases, authorities say.
The man’s widow eventually noticed suspicious activities on the statement and contacted police.
Purchases included seven mobile food orders, a hotel stay and a meal at Wendy’s. An attempt to buy eyelash extensions was stymied after the card was reported stolen. About $500 in charges went through.
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Investigators obtained a description of the suspect’s car at one of the businesses, and later realized that the tags matched Ferreira’s vehicle.
Osceola County Sheriff Marco Lopez said at a news conference Wednesday that the officer confessed to taking photos of the man’s card and storing them on a device.
Ferreira was arrested and booked on suspicion of theft of a credit card with intent to use, credit card fraud of more than $100 and use of ID of a dead person. She was booked early Tuesday evening a few hours later on $4,000 bond.
The officer was immediately fired.
“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 snap shots of a credit card,” Lopez said. “That’s pretty cold, you know, pretty ruthless.”
Added the officer’s boss, St. Cloud Police Chief Douglas Goerke: “The information uncovered during this investigation shocked and appalled me. It directly violated everything expected of our law enforcement officers.”
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