Suspended Lauderhill officer charged with stealing dead man’s identity

LAUDERHILL, Fla. (WWSB) - A suspended Lauderhill Police Officer is facing criminal charges after authorities say he stole a deceased man’s identity and took over the man’s home.Suspended officer Brian Sergos left the Broward jail after posting bond. He told a judge he would not return to the house investigators say belonged to 71-year-old Dennis West, who died there in 2022.Investigators say Sergos went to the home to conduct a welfare check and found West dead. Investigators say Sergos then told the medical examiner that West had no family, claimed he was a friend of West’s, and claimed the body for cremation.Trinity woman charged with aggravated animal cruelty in cat’s 2024 deathSergos began living in West’s home, including during a period when repairs were being made, according to investigators.Broward Property Appraiser Marty Kiar said it took four years for the law to catch up with Sergos, who had assumed West’s identity. Kiar said this type of case happens hundreds of times a yea