'Riviera Beach Cops' Archives

Michael McAuliffe Went Fishing for Corruption in Riviera Beach, Went Home Empty-Handed

By Lisa Rab Fri., Apr. 27 2012 at 10:37 AM

Categories: Law & Order, Riviera Beach Cops

Palm Beach Sun

He rode into the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office promising to fight corruption, but in Riviera Beach, Michael McAuliffe failed spectacularly.

Three years ago, McAuliffe charged three Riviera cops with felonies ranging from official misconduct to tipping off a murder suspect about an impending arrest. This was the ambitious prosecutor's chance to clean up a police department long rumored to be dirty. Riviera's detective bureau was covered in crime scene tape. Cops were booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. Yet none of the department's top brass was charged.

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Lee Ann Schneider, Michael McAuliffe, Riviera Beach Police Department

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Bad Cops

UPDATED: David Harris Testifies in Riviera Beach Cop Corruption Trial; Pat Galligan Does Not

By Lisa Rab Fri., Apr. 20 2012 at 7:08 AM

Categories: Bad Cops, Riviera Beach Cops

PBSO

Schneider is facing charges of forgery and official misconduct.

Update 5:45 p.m: The jury acquitted Det. Lee Ann Schneider this afternoon.

A Riviera Beach detective could spend hundreds of years in prison for helping her boss pad his overtime, while he has escaped testifying at the trial that is largely about him.

Detective Lee Ann Schneider is on trial this week for 152 counts of forgery and official misconduct, accused of repeatedly signing Sgt. Pat Galligan's name to official paperwork. Key testimony in the case came yesterday, when a friend of Galligan's, Riviera Beach Assistant Police Chief David "Curly Top" Harris, took the witness stand. Harris recalled Galligan saying Schneider was following Galligan's instructions when she forged his signature on probable-cause affidavits and property receipts.

"[He] told me he gave Lee Ann Schneider permission to sign his name," Harris said.

Galligan was never charged with a crime and never testified at the trial. Palm Beach Circuit

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Assistant Chief Dave Harris, Lee Ann Schneider, Pat Galligan, Riviera Beach Police Department

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Riviera Beach Cops

Woman Sues Riviera Beach for Alleged Harassment by Police (UPDATED)

By Stefan Kamph Thu., Feb. 23 2012 at 1:38 PM

Categories: Riviera Beach Cops

We're waiting on a mug shot from O'Neill's supposedly eventful 2009 arrest.

A Riviera Beach woman is suing the city in federal court for an incident in December 2009 when she claims Riviera Beach Police officers grabbed her, accused her of being a mental patient, kicked down the door, unlawfully entered her home without a warrant, ripped off her pajama top, caused her to hit her head, removed her from her home with her breasts exposed, and drove her off to jail.

She was charged with resisting arrest and misdemeanor battery on an officer. The State Attorney's Office finally dropped both charges in January 2011.

The woman, Colette O'Neill (formerly Colette Spears), claims false arrest and violation of civil rights in a lawsuit filed this week against the city and the two police officers allegedly involved, Lt. Reno Wells and Sgt. Joshua Lewis.

In perhaps the most disturbing of the many allegations against the officers, O'Neill says that while still in her nightclothes, she asked the officers demanding entry to her home if they had a search warrant.

"We don't need one. We're the Riviera Mafia," she remembered them replying, according to the complaint.

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Benjamin Bedard, Colette O'Neill, Edward McGee, Lt. Reno Wells, police brutality, Riviera Beach Police Department, Sgt. Joshua Lewis

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Bad Cops

Riviera Cop Michael Dodson Pleads Guilty to Firing a Gun While Drunk, Gets Probation

By Lisa Rab Thu., Nov. 10 2011 at 11:28 AM

Categories: Bad Cops, Riviera Beach Cops

PBSO

Dodson (left) pleaded guilty, while Schneider is awaiting trial.

Of the three Riviera Beach police officers charged in a corruption scandal two years ago, Sgt. Michael Dodson's case was the most bizarre.

Early one morning in October 2009, following a retirement party for a fellow cop, Dodson returned home to Palm Beach Gardens, drunk. Soon afterward, a distress call came in over Riviera's police radio: "Ten-twenty-four, officer needs help."

Fellow cops arrived to find Dodson lying face-down on the garage floor, covered in blood.

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drunkenness, Riviera Beach, Riviera Beach Police, Sgt. Michael Dodson

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Riviera Beach Cops

How "Policing the Police" Cover Art Was Made

By Devin Desjarlais Thu., Mar. 17 2011 at 1:20 PM

Categories: Riviera Beach Cops

Illustration by Pete Ryan

The final product.

We did something cool for this week's feature (or, at least, we're excited by it). We asked our cover illustrator, Pete Ryan, to provide video evidence of how he creates the illustrations Broward-Palm Beach New Times commissions him for.

Click here to read about corruption in the Riviera Beach Police Department.

Here's what Ryan came up with, a pretty sweet video:

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Riviera Beach Cops

Letter: A Whistleblower's Farewell to the Riviera Beach Police Squad

By Lisa Rab Wed., Mar. 16 2011 at 10:28 AM

Categories: Law & Order, Riviera Beach Cops

This week's New Times cover story is an in-depth look at the corruption scandal that has rocked the Riviera Beach Police Department in the past two years. Veteran Detective Lee Ann Schneider is now awaiting trial for allegedly helping a supervisor pad his overtime, while Sgt. Michael Dodson has been accused of falsely reporting a crime after getting drunk, firing his gun in his garage, and mutilating himself with a box cutter. A third officer, Vice Agent John Toombs, was acquitted on charges of tipping off a murder suspect.

The cop who first brought many of these alleged crimes to the attention of the FBI is Shawn Vance, who recently resigned from Riviera Beach and now works for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Before he left, Vance wrote a scathing letter accusing "the highest ranking personnel" in the Riviera Police Department of threatening his career and his life. His screed speaks to the poisonous internal strife within the department. It also highlights the fact that no high-ranking officer in Riviera has been charged in the scandal -- raising questions about how successful the corruption bust could be. Read Vance's resignation letter after the jump.

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Lee Ann Schneider, Michael Dodson, Riviera Beach Police, Shawn Vance

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Riviera Beach Cops

What John Toombs' Acquittal Means for the Dysfunctional Riviera Beach Cops

By Lisa Rab Fri., Jan. 21 2011 at 12:04 PM

Categories: Crime, Law & Order, Riviera Beach Cops

Schneider is accused of forging her supervisor's signature on official documents.

"We have a little dysfunction in the chain of command in Riviera Beach," defense attorney Steve Sessa told a jury in Palm Beach Circuit Court yesterday. "Because of that dysfunction, that's why we're here."

Sessa was arguing that his client, Riviera Beach Vice Agent John Toombs, did not warn a murder suspect that fellow cops were coming to arrest him. By calling the department dysfunctional, he was criticizing Toombs' supervisors for allowing fellow cops to accuse him of a crime, without launching an internal investigation.

A jury acquitted Toombs on both felony charges he faced.

But that doesn't mean the dysfunction in the Riviera police department has disappeared.

Another Riviera detective, Lee Ann Schneider, is still facing charges that she forged her supervisor's signature on scores of official documents, to justify the supervisor's claims for overtime. According to prosecutors, Schneider committed these crimes for two years before anyone higher up in the chain of command noticed. How is that possible in a functional police department?

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Lee Ann Schneider, Riviera Beach Police, Steve Sessa, Vice Agent John Toombs

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What John Toombs' Acquittal Means for the Dysfunctional Riviera Beach Cops

By Lisa Rab Fri., Jan. 21 2011 at 12:04 PM

Categories: Crime, Law & Order, Riviera Beach Cops

Schneider is accused of forging her supervisor's signature on official documents.

"We have a little dysfunction in the chain of command in Riviera Beach," defense attorney Steve Sessa told a jury in Palm Beach Circuit Court yesterday. "Because of that dysfunction, that's why we're here."

Sessa was arguing that his client, Riviera Beach Vice Agent John Toombs, did not warn a murder suspect that fellow cops were coming to arrest him. By calling the department dysfunctional, he was criticizing Toombs' supervisors for allowing fellow cops to accuse him of a crime, without launching an internal investigation.

A jury acquitted Toombs on both felony charges he faced.

But that doesn't mean the dysfunction in the Riviera police department has disappeared.

Another Riviera detective, Lee Ann Schneider, is still facing charges that she forged her supervisor's signature on scores of official documents, to justify the supervisor's claims for overtime. According to prosecutors, Schneider committed these crimes for two years before anyone higher up in the chain of command noticed. How is that possible in a functional police department?

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Lee Ann Schneider, Riviera Beach Police, Steve Sessa, Vice Agent John Toombs

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Riviera Beach Cops

UPDATED: Agent John Toombs in Court Today; First Trial in the Riviera Beach Police Scandal

By Lisa Rab Thu., Jan. 20 2011 at 6:59 PM

Categories: Crime, Riviera Beach Cops

Agent John Toombs was acquitted this afternoon on all counts. Read more details after the jump.

Riviera Beach Vice Agent John Toombs will be in court this morning facing allegations that he tipped off a murder suspect to help him avoid being arrested.

Toombs' trial is the first in the scandal that has rocked his police department and led to the indictment of two other detectives. His case illustrates the bizarre infighting and turf wars that some blame for tainting the entire squad.

In March 2009, Detective Shawn Vance met with an FBI agent to complain that Toombs "knowingly and deliberately" tried to interfere with a homicide Vance was investigating. According to a written statement Vance gave the FBI, his concerns centered on the arrest of Arnell Walker.

Vance wanted to question Walker about the shooting death of Nathaniel "Tankpot" Miller. Toombs, who grew up in Riviera and worked drug cases, told Vance he'd heard that Walker was the "trigger man" in the homicide. Walker was already wanted for an unrelated felony, but Vance had trouble tracking him down.

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Detective John Toombs, Riviera Beach Police, Shawn Vance

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UPDATED: Agent John Toombs in Court Today; First Trial in the Riviera Beach Police Scandal

By Lisa Rab Thu., Jan. 20 2011 at 6:59 PM

Categories: Crime, Riviera Beach Cops

Agent John Toombs was acquitted this afternoon on all counts. Read more details after the jump.

Riviera Beach Vice Agent John Toombs will be in court this morning facing allegations that he tipped off a murder suspect to help him avoid being arrested.

Toombs' trial is the first in the scandal that has rocked his police department and led to the indictment of two other detectives. His case illustrates the bizarre infighting and turf wars that some blame for tainting the entire squad.

In March 2009, Detective Shawn Vance met with an FBI agent to complain that Toombs "knowingly and deliberately" tried to interfere with a homicide Vance was investigating. According to a written statement Vance gave the FBI, his concerns centered on the arrest of Arnell Walker.

Vance wanted to question Walker about the shooting death of Nathaniel "Tankpot" Miller. Toombs, who grew up in Riviera and worked drug cases, told Vance he'd heard that Walker was the "trigger man" in the homicide. Walker was already wanted for an unrelated felony, but Vance had trouble tracking him down.

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