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Sheriff: Officer Gave Up 19-Year Career for $200

Lakeland Police Officer Troy Young.

Young was booked into the Polk County Jail on Monday and was released on $5,500 bail. He did not return phone messages left by The Ledger.

Lakeland police Chief Roger Boatner said Young will remain on paid suspension until the department finishes an internal review.

Investigators say Young provided Dorice “DeeDee” Moore of Lakeland with information obtained through law enforcement data bases and that he was paid for the information.

Young admitted he had given Moore information about the identities of vehicle owners after she provided him with tag numbers, PCSO detectives say.

Moore is considered a “person of interest” in the ongoing investigation of Abraham Shakespeare’s disappearance.

According to Young’s arrest report, in December a detective searched Moore’s cell phone, with permission, and found “Troy Young” text messages with Moore’s asking Young to run license tags.

Once, Moore specifically asked, “Check if this is a cop,” the arrest report said.

In that text message asking about a police car, Judd said Moore was asking specifically about a sheriff’s undercover vehicle. “She was off by one digit,” Judd said.

The report said Young admitted being given a plane ticket for his daughter’s use.

The ticket was a Texas-to-Florida round trip, Judd said. He said Moore also gave Young a $200 check.

The ticket was to pay for Young’s checking several tags and for other services. The report said Young did things for Moore such as giving her advice about legal questions and witnessing her opening a safe deposit box.

Shakespeare was reported missing by a family member in November. Investigators said his family and friends told them they hadn’t seen or heard from him since April.

Shakespeare took a lump-sum payout of about $17 million after winning the lottery in 2007.

Moore has told The Ledger she helped Shakespeare disappear at his request. She said he was trying to get away from people who were constantly pestering him for money.

Young isn’t the only one negatively impacted by his arrest, Judd said. “It’s one more chip of wood on the stack for DeeDee Moore.”

There are two emotional events that police departments have to endure, Chief Boatner said.

“Lakeland police in the last 10 days have been involved with both of them: the death of a police officer and the arrest of a police officer.”

Officer Charlie Dallas died Jan. 18 in a car accident.

He said Young’s actions will be debated by the police department, by people and in court.

As those conversations unfold, Boatner said, “We have 225 sworn officers who do good work every day. I hope people don’t forget that.”

Young, who has been with LPD since 1990, was suspended with pay Jan. 8 when Lakeland Police supervisors learned he was under investigation by the Sheriff’s Department.

In nearly 20 years with the department, Young, whose salary is $57,990 per year, had never been suspended.

He had been warned or had received counseling for personnel issues on five occasions, his file shows. Three of those five times were for vehicle operation.

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Young has earned 16 awards and commendations during that same time.