OAKLAND, Fla — A series of reports from 9 Investigates has led to the termination of a police sergeant in the town of Oakland in west Orange County.
In early April, 9 Investigates questioned why the officer was hired just days after he resigned from another police department while under investigation and accused of stealing from taxpayers.
Now the police chief in Oakland confirmed Barry Strykowski’s time is up as a night sergeant at the Oakland Police Department. Oakland Police Chief Darron Esan confirmed the departure stems from the series of 9 Investigates reports from earlier this month, which started with questions to the chief about why Strykowski was hired in the first place.
“All the information you’ve provided that we’ve now come in to know, which we did not have prior, we now know,” Esan said.
Strykowski applied to work in Oakland last year while under investigation at the Mount Dora Police Department in nearby Lake County.
9 Investigates’ obtained his application, which showed that under employment history, when asked a series of questions about whether he had been involuntarily terminated or asked to resign from a job or been given the opportunity to resign, Strykowski checked “no.”
Strykowski was allowed to resign from Mount Dora as part of a separation agreement, even though the Mount Dora chief said they had gathered enough GPS data and reviewed time cards showing he was stealing time and money from taxpayers for at least five months, which is a crime. However, the chief never reported it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Standards and Training Commission, which oversees law enforcement certification.
When asked why it wasn’t reported, Mount Dora Police Chief Mike Gibson said, “Police officers use discretion every day, right? We use discretion every day. In this case, you’re correct, it could fall under the statute as a crime, or it does fall under this statute as a crime, but we’re the victim, so we’re allowed to say, ‘OK, we’ll forgo that. At the end of the day, the chief of police, me, I’m responsible for the decisions.”
9 Investigates found that Oakland did not request Strykowski’s personnel file until after he was hired, and the only proof they could provide to show his discipline file was requested is an email from Mount Dora Capt. Victor Uvalle, stating Strykowski had no open cases or discipline on file, which we now know isn’t true. Uvalle is now under investigation to determine if he violated department policies.
While Strykowski’s employment in Oakland was terminated, the investigation into whether he lied during the application process continues.
"What I’d have to say is the information that we have presented to us through your investigation and through the documents that you’ve showed us, I have to verify that those the large part of our investigation," Esan said.
If that investigation in Oakland finds Strykowski was untruthful, the chief said that the findings will be turned over to the state, and the standards and training commission would determine next steps, which could include terminating his law enforcement certification.
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