US police officer accused of taking over dead man’s home after finding body

A Florida police officer who found a man dead during a welfare check in 2022 is accused of taking possession of the man’s home and impersonating him for years while fixing up the place, authorities said.

The officer said he took possession of the property weeks after discovering the homeowner’s body to “prevent squatters from taking control of it,” according to a court document he filed.

Investigators in South Florida have accused Lauderhill police officer Brian Sguros of carrying out a “complex scheme” to take control of the US$400,000 home. They say he made it appear the man was still alive by using his identification to pay taxes on the property and obtain permits to make repairs.

Sguros was arrested this week and charged with five felonies, including official misconduct and criminal use of deceased personal identification. He appeared in court at a brief hearing on Wednesday and then dashed away from reporters outside.

Messages seeking comment were left Thursday with one of his lawyers and Sguros, who has been suspended from his job.

Court documents in a related civil case show that the officer’s attempt to take possession of the two-storey house in a tidy neighbourhood just outside Fort Lauderdale became known after a real estate group bought the house from the man’s relatives in 2025.

Sguros said in an affidavit that in August 2022 – less than a month after he found Dennis West dead inside the Lauderhill home – he took possession of the property and spent the next 2½ years making repairs, spending more than US$200,000 of his own money.

He said the house had been filled with trash, that its roof was partially collapsed and that the structure was unstable.

Sguros said in another court document that he took over the property “believing that by cleaning, securing, and restoring a dangerous and abandoned residence he was acting lawfully and responsibly to protect the surrounding community”.

He argued that he made no attempts to hide what he was doing.

But investigators with Broward County Sheriff’s Office said the deception began when the officer told the county medical examiner that he was friends with West, who had died of natural causes, and that the man had no family, which was not true.

Sguros paid taxes and utilities at the home in West’s name, and forged his signature to get permits for work at the home, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators said Sguros also used his access to law enforcement databases to find information about West.

The officer in February 2025 filed paperwork with the county appraiser stating his possession of the home. But after the real estate group later acquired deeds to the property, he filed a civil case against the company seeking to be reimbursed for the money he spent on repairs.