DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — A Walton County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with dealing in stolen property.
Lester Rodgers, a deputy since 2007, is charged with stealing and pawning the knife of a friend, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Rodgers was arrested Wednesday morning and has been fired, a Sheriff’s Office news release said.
“This is difficult but the right thing to do,” Sheriff Mike Adkinson said in the release. “The public has to have faith in our profession, and we will hold ourselves accountable.”
Rodgers is accused of stealing a Benchmade Infidel knife valued at $500 from Donald Hendry McCracken in mid-July while they were at a gathering of family and friends, according to Rodgers’ arrest report.
A man told McCracken in October he bought a knife like his at a local pawn shot, the report said.
McCracken learned about the knife’s whereabouts after he entered a business “so he could get the serial number for his firearm that had also gone missing and was last in the possession of Lester Rodgers,” the report said.
McCracken was told he had to report the knife stolen to learn how it arrived at the Pawn Plus II in DeFuniak Springs.
Rodgers took McCracken’s theft report at the Sheriff’s Office.
“When Donald (McCracken) told him that he believed his missing knife had been pawned, Lester (Rodgers) admitted to Donald he pawned the knife,” the report said.
Rodgers told McCracken he bought the knife from the woman McCracken was dating at the time of the theft, the report said.
The woman gave a detailed account of the day in question and denied stealing the knife.
After he was arrested, Rodgers signed paperwork requesting that his booking photo not be released because he is a law enforcement officer.
Florida law allows officials to override such requests, but Walton County Jail Administrator Stan Sunday declined to do so.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.