LAUDERHILL, Fla. — A Florida police officer has been accused of renovating the home of a deceased man and falsely using his identity following a welfare check, Local 10 reported.
An arrest affidavit by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, obtained by Local 10, details how Lauderhill Officer Brian Louis Sguros allegedly tried to establish a financial interest in the property of a man whom he found deceased during a welfare check.
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On July 11, 2022, Sguros responded to a home for a welfare check after a neighbor reported not seeing the homeowner for two weeks.
When officers entered the home, they found the body of homeowner Dennis Ionis West. West had died from cardiovascular disease, Local 10 reported.
Investigators on the case said there was no indication that Sguros told other officers he knew West. However, Sguros later told the Medical Examiner’s office that he was a friend of West’s and offered to handle funeral arrangements if relatives could not be found.
Though investigators determined that West had multiple surviving family members and legal heirs, Sguros admitted to taking possession of West’s property around Aug. 1, weeks after West’s death, according to sworn court documents.
Sguros stated that he spent more than two years cleaning, securing and renovating the home, Local 10 reported. He maintained that his actions were intended to protect against squatters and criminal activity.
Sguros stated that he invested more than $200,000 of his own money into the home and raised the value by approximately $500,000. He also paid taxes on the home and paid toward a utility account, both of which still had West’s name attached to them.
In February of 2025, Sguros and another individual filed paperwork attempting to establish adverse possession of the property, Local 10 reported. The filing itself did not grant them legal ownership.
Investigators also discovered a building permit application and other documentation that used West’s identity as the homeowner after he had died. Paperwork on an application to replace doors and windows at the home listed West as the homeowner and included his driver’s license and a signature of his name, according to Local 10.
The document indicated that West had appeared before a notary two years after his death. The phone number on the application belonged to Sguros.
The notary who was listed on the documents stated that the signature was not hers and that the stamp appeared to be smaller than the one she used, Local 10 reported.
Sguros is also accused of using law enforcement databases to obtain information about West. He allegedly conducted seven searches using his department-issued computer between July 2022 and January 2023. Information yielded in the searches included West’s address, date of birth, social security number and vehicle details, according to Local 10.
The case came to light when a holdings firm located West’s surviving heirs and acquired their ownership interests in the home. A Broward County court then recognized the heirs’ interests and the conveyances to the firm.
Sguros eventually surrendered the keys to the home but sought reimbursement for the improvements he allegedly made, Local 10 reported. In February 2026, Sguros filed a lawsuit seeking an equitable lien against the property.
The holdings firm filed a complaint with the Lauderhill Police Department regarding Sguros’s involvement with the home and his alleged use of official information.
The Broward Sheriff’s affidavit found probable cause to charge Sguros with official misconduct, criminal use of a deceased person’s identification information, criminal use of personal identification information, offense against a computer user and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. Sguros has been placed on unpaid leave.
