By Cristóbal Reyes
Orlando Sentinel
ST. CLOUD, Fla. — A St. Cloud police officer was arrested Tuesday after investigators found she spent hundreds of dollars in personal purchases using a dead person’s credit card.
The card information was obtained by St. Cloud police Officer Dianne Ferreira at the home of someone who died April 3, and purchases were reported the following day when a relative noticed the card was being used for about $450 worth of salon appointments, gas fill-ups, meals and a hotel stay, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos López told reporters.
Records show Ferreira, 25, was booked in the Osceola County Jail on charges of stealing credit card information, fraud and identity theft, and she’s since been released. Hired by the St. Cloud Police Department in August 2021, she resigned after being interviewed as part of the investigation.
She had no prior disciplinary history.
SCPD Chief Douglas Goerke apologized to the victim’s family for Ferreira’s alleged actions, calling them “reprehensible.”
“I have no tolerance for officers who harm our community or violate its trust,” Goerke said.
Goerke added his agency “worked closely” with deputies, who found that the credit card charges were made by Ferreira, a patrol officer, the day after responding to a death at a home in St. Cloud. López said she admitted to taking photos of the victim’s credit cards and uploading them to several mobile apps.
Documents detailing the fraud investigation have not been released by the Sheriff’s Office and were not yet available in court records. Deputies are further investigating whether Ferreira committed other offenses in her time as a police officer.
“[Goerke] is looking into that on his end, and of course, we’ll be here if anything happens in our jurisdiction, but as of right now, this is an isolated incident,” López said. “It’s still open. If anything else arises from this, we’re going to take the same course of action and make sure she’s arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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