MOUNT DORA, Fla. — 9-Investigates has new details about the Oakland Police Sergeant hired a day after he agreed to resign from Mount Dora Police while under investigation. Hours after Channel 9 anchor Daralene Jones started asking questions in Mount Dora and Oakland, Sergeant Barry Strykowski was suspended. Before he was suspended, Jones obtained his personnel file from Oakland Police, which included his employment application. In under a year, working in the sleepy town in West Orange County, his photo is now on top in the station lobby because he was recently promoted to Sergeant, even though he’s still a probationary employee. Reading through this 51-page personnel file, we found Strykowski applied to work at the Oakland Police Department on April 1st of last year, while he was still under investigation at the Mount Police Department and had been for than five months. The department found he misrepresented his attendance, stealing time from taxpayers, which is a crime and misused his patrol car. He signed a separation agreement requiring him to resign on April 17th and started working at the Oakland Police Department just 5 days later, according to FDLE records. “I know with a level of confidence because I can look on the cover sheet here that they did not request this internal investigation,” Chief Mike Gibson told Jones when she asked whether Oakland requested internal investigations or discipline records from the city of Mount Dora.
At the top of the application when asked if he separated or resigned from a previous agency while under investigation he checked “false.” It’s dated a day after Strykowski and Mount Dora signed off on this separation agreement. Jones asked why a Captain at Mount Dora Police emailed Oakland, with claims Strykowski had no open cases and no discipline. Technically, it’s true because the investigation had closed two days earlier “He was correct, partly correct. The discipline was leaving, resignation,” Chief Gibson said.
We kept digging through that Oakland P-D application. Underemployment history: when asked if he had been involuntarily terminated or asked to resign from a job - Strykowski checked “no.” Have you ever resigned or been allowed to resign, Strykoski checked, “no.” Have you ever falsified timesheets - the answer again was “no.” City records and GPS logs we reviewed determined Strykowski was charging taxpayers or off-duty details for time never worked, which was never reported to FDLE, and the Chief told us he chose not to, even though it’s a crime.
In January of this year, 9-Investigates reported three Orlando Police officers were put on leave amid criminal investigations into fraudulent time sheets, including two that the department previously did not disclose. Their cases were forwarded to the State Attorney for review. The Mount Dora Police Chief says he used his department-issued car to steal time from taxpayers, claiming to be on duty as an officer or extra duty details. Records we reviewed at police headquarters show it went on for at least five months between October of 2023 and March of 2024, allowing him to be compensated for two different commitments simultaneously, according to internal affairs investigators. Jones asked Chief Mike Gibson why he wasn’t fired. “Well, the Mount Dora Police Department has a process called DRP, dispute resolution process,” Chief Gibson told Jones. It’s a practice in Mount Dora policy, he says, allowing the agency to negotiate discipline and - or an exit strategy.
In this case, the separation agreement we obtained shows the city paid Strykowski a total of more about $12,418 in accrued vacation time and sick leave and allowed him to walk away with no discipline on his record, despite a 22-page investigation that determined he had in fact misrepresented his time and attendance. Jones asked Chief Gibson is he had turned over the case to FDLE showing that he was accused of stealing time, with records to prove it, would he had lost his law enforcement certification “That is up to them, it goes to a commission, but they would make that decision,” Chief Gibson said.
Oakland Police Chief Darran Esan wouldn’t speak with us on camera but told Jones behind closed doors he just didn’t know about it at the time and provided an emailed statement about 5 hours after she left stating:
On today’s date, the Oakland Police Department received information that alleged the employment application received from Barry Strykowski excluded information that may have disqualified him from being hired by the department. Barry Strykowski was previously employed by the Mount Dora Police Department up to his swearing in at Oakland. Barry Strykowski was immediately suspended pending an internal investigation into the validity of the allegations. The active internal investigation makes further comments improper until the final disposition is determined.
And he showed us an FDLE profile sheet, which we already had obtained from FDLE and the state’s record show Strykowski voluntarily separated from Mount Dora - under circumstances not involving misconduct. When we followed up with additional questions about the Mount Dora investigation, Chief Esan replied, in part, “They sent back a link to his personnel file which was in excess of 900 pages. The 22-page investigation is not found in that file.”
Strykowski was required to relinquish his vehicle and other equipment pending the outcome of the investigation.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
