‘What About All the Other Times …?’: California Cop Steals $3,500 from Homeless Man Saving Money for Dental Work But Avoids Felony Charge and Only Loses Job In Questionable Plea Deal
A white sheriff’s deputy from California with a history of stealing money from vulnerable people, including the homeless and mentally ill, was cleared of the felony charge against him last week after agreeing to relinquish his state law enforcement certification, sparing himself from a potential three-year prison sentence.
The former cop, however, can still become certified as a law enforcement officer in any other state.
Under the plea agreement which dismissed the felony charge of grand theft by embezzlement, former Glenn County sheriff’s deputy John Sanzone also agreed to return the $3,500 he stole from a homeless man he had arrested who was planning on using the money for dental work.
However, several other victims had money stolen from them who will not be repaid, according to a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a Black police officer against the Oroville Police Department in 2022, where Sanzone had worked for ten years and had reached the rank of sergeant before joining the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office.
The lawsuit filed by Oroville Police Sgt. Michael Sears accuses the department of covering up for Sanzone for years, allowing him not only to steal money from citizens but also mishandling evidence and contraband as well as refusing to respond to about 80 calls for service during a four-month period, including calls for domestic violence, suicidal subjects, missing juveniles, drug overdoses, animal abuse, vandalism, trespassing and prostitution.
The lawsuit also accuses the Oroville Police Department of retaliating against Sears when he complained about Sanzone by opening an internal affairs investigation against the Black cop.
According to the claim:
On July 5th, 2021, Sergeant Sears was on duty when a citizen who suffered with mental illness came into the police department to report that Sanzone had stolen $1,300 from the citizen during a recent arrest. The citizen said he had come in to report this theft multiple times and he was informed by one sergeant that the citizen could not make that type of complaint and was told to leave. Sergeant Sears looked up the police log history and saw that the sergeant who told the citizen that he could not make such a complaint was John Sanzone himself.
Sergeant Sears was aware that this was at least the fourth unrelated citizen with mental health and or criminal history who had alleged Sanzone had, stolen money from them while he worked at Oroville Police Department.
No one from the administration investigated Sergeant John Sanzone for the alleged theft from this citizen while he was employed at the Oroville Police Department and instead Sergeant Sears was accused of and questioned during the IA investigation against Sears about having made up this theft complaint, was blamed for having filled out former complaint for the citizen, and was accused of conducting his own investigation into the theft by simply documenting it in a memo.
Court records indicate that Sears’ lawsuit which accused the Oroville Police Department of racism, retaliation and violating his civil rights resulted in a settlement last year.
Hired, Fired and Arrested
Sanzone left the Oroville Police Department and joined the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office in December 2021, apparently taking a pay cut, so he was apparently either fired or forced to resign from the Oroville Police Department after ten years.
But he only lasted nine months at the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office after he was fired in September 2022 amid accusations that he stole $3,500 from the homeless man planning on using the money for dental work.
In May 2023, he was arrested on a single felony charge of grand theft by embezzlement which carries a sentence of up to three years. He spent no time in jail, posting bond after he was booked.
Two years later, the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office announced on its Facebook page on May 16 that the case against Sanzone was closed after he agreed to the plea deal, sparking criticism from citizens in the comments section.
“So this guy steals while he’s a deputy in Oroville & Glenn County hired him, in turn did the same thing here,” stated a commenter named Faylene Jarman.
“Seems like there’s a pattern here. Glenn County shouldn’t have even hired him! He’ll just move to another state & do the same thing. It’s sad when you can’t even trust the police.”
“What about all the other times he stole from homeless?” asked a commenter named Bill Maggs. “The ban is a joke since it only holds for California. The sheriff old boy network will arrange a job for him in Nevada or Arizona.”
“Just shows the actual level of corruption in this county when a cop steals from a homeless man and walks free,” added a commenter named Corrine Green.
The Glenn County District Attorney’s Office defended the plea deal with the following comment:
“He did not walk free. He will never be a peace officer in California in his lifetime because of the criminal investigation. Many criminals will just do jail time or pay a fine…not lose their jobs. This person lost his job and career.”
But it is not uncommon for decertified cops to simply move to other states to find employment, according to a 107-page report published by the Yale Law Journal in 2020 titled “The Wandering Cop.”
“A significant problem with state-by-state certification is that an officer decertified in one state can move across state lines and obtain certification, and then employment, in another,” the report states.