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Hillsborough Corporal Resigns After Pill Theft Investigation

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2008

Updated: 11/04/2008 04:07 pm

TAMPA - A 12-year veteran of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has resigned after a departmental investigation found he took prescription drugs from a woman during an unrecorded traffic stop.

Cpl. William Hughes, 35, resigned Oct. 14, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. He had been found guilty of the following policy violations: using prescribed drugs while on duty, conduct unbecoming of a member of the sheriff's office, committing misdemeanor petty theft and failing to follow department directives.

The sheriff's office released the findings of the department's internal investigation today. Carter said it does not appear Hughes will face criminal charges.

According to the findings, Hughes took prescription pills from a woman's purse during a traffic stop July 23, when he was off-duty but in uniform and driving an unmarked white Chevrolet Impala.

The findings do not identify the woman or specify the medication because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which prohibits the release of medical records, the sheriff's office said.

Hughes had pulled over the woman for violation of the right of way, stopping her at a Mitsubishi dealership west of Falkenburg Road where she was pulling in for service, the findings say.

He searched the woman's car with her permission, found her purse and the medication, removed the cap on the pill bottle, poured the contents into his hand and examined the pills, the findings say.

Hughes appeared to pour the pills back into the bottle, but when the woman later counted the pills, she found the number was short, the findings say.

Further investigation found at least one person at the dealership who testified that "it appeared that Cpl. Hughes placed the contents of his left hand into this left front pants pocket" instead of returning the pills to the bottle, the findings say.

When interviewed by departmental investigators, Hughes "admitted he intentionally retained an undetermined quantity" of the pills, the findings say.

He spoke to the driver without issuing her a traffic citation or a written warning and did not radio the communications bureau that he was making a traffic stop, the findings say.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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