FDLE Affidavit Details Charges Against Escambia Sheriff’s Lieutenant

March 5, 2012

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrest affidavit details the circumstance surrounding the arrest of an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant .

Lt. Roger Grice, 57, was charged with vehicle title fraud and sales tax fraud. He was released from jail on bond and placed on administrative duty by the Sheriff’s Office pending the outcome of the case.

According to the FDLE affidavit:

On December 16, 2009, Grice purchased a pickup truck and trailer for a combined price of $28,000 and received an “open” title from the seller. He did not register the vehicle or complete a transfer of title. The title was not completed with the purchaser’s name, sales price, sale date or odometer reading. According to records at a Pensacola dealership, Grice took the vehicle in for service on the date of purchase with an odometer reading of 77,004.

On October 24, 2010, Grice sold the truck for $20,000 to Joe Clark of Clark’s Underground Construction. Grice provided the same “open” title that was given to him the previous year. Clark filed the transfer of title and recorded the mileage as 81,200. Clark’s title transfer listed the price of the truck as $10,000.

“Joe Clark was interviewed by law enforcement and provided a sworn statement that Grice instructed him to under-report the sales price in order to pay less sales tax,” the affidavit states.

Grice admitted to FLDE that he purchased the truck and did not register the vehicle, complete the title transfer or pay the appropriate sales tax. Grice said he used a license plate from another vehicle on the truck in order to drive it on the road. He also said he did not complete the title transfer or complete the registration because he did not like the truck and it needed mechanical work.

NorthEscambia.com file photo.

Comments

17 Responses to “FDLE Affidavit Details Charges Against Escambia Sheriff’s Lieutenant”

  1. ROBERT OLSTEAD on March 7th, 2012 5:59 pm

    Well i see that now this poor guy is getting blamed for the for the school nueres getting laid off,I think you need to look at your govenor for the layoffs not the deputy, and also look at the man that owns a company in Florida.

  2. Duke of Wawbeek on March 7th, 2012 6:49 am

    I am sick and tired, everytime I turn to the news, a law enforcement officer is being arrested or is under indictment. Is there not one honest person out there? It is time to clean house and restore public confidence in our public safety program.

  3. Jack on March 6th, 2012 11:36 am

    From reading the comments it appears that if enough people break the law, that makes it alright.
    Are the same ones that are saying it’s acceptable to dodge taxes complaining about losing the nurses in the school system?
    Just wondering out loud.

  4. B.Bunny on March 6th, 2012 7:36 am

    Hmmm a political manuever to get more votes if you’re running for Sheriff? Seems to me that more Leo’s have been arrested and fired in the last six months than the last four yrs and during an election yr. Imagine that. His way of saying, I cleaned up the communities and my own sheriffs office so vote for me?

  5. ROBERT OLSTEAD on March 5th, 2012 10:08 pm

    I have been following this story on North Escambia and it seems to me that one of our Deputies has a red dot on his back. Here you have a man Joe Clark that says he bought the truck from the deputy for 20,000.00 and then goes down and registered it at the tag office for 10,000.00 and then tells law enforcement that the deputy told him to say he paid 10,000.00 for it. It seems to me that Mr Clark should be the one answering the question of not telling the truth. It has been several years since i have bought a car but I think you have to sign and swear that what you put on the paper at the tag office is true. I think the States Attorney should be looking at all involved not just one and make all involved pay what they should. This just my thought

  6. stephen on March 5th, 2012 12:49 pm

    That is done all the time How many peopleeading this article have bought a used car and claimed you paid $ 1.00 for it.

  7. Sara on March 5th, 2012 9:59 am

    All those so called “criminal charges” seem like a grudge on someone’s part. It seems the whole situation could have been handled with sufficient fines & paperwork corrections.

  8. tec on March 5th, 2012 8:46 am

    Isn’t it amazing that in this one transaction: The original seller did not complete the title requirements, the purchaser did not and the last purchaser was very happy with the information shown on the title. However, only one person was charged in this process. Sounds like a witch hunt. In this case either ALL responsible should be charged or those involved should be able to pay the penalty for untimely title transter and the amount of sales due on their purchase based on the full price paid. I know first hand that this is common practice. Again, ask why was Lt. Grice singled out?

  9. citizen on March 5th, 2012 8:34 am

    Will be interesting to see how this plays out. The statue of limitations for 1st degree misdemeanors is 2 years and 2nd degree misdemeanors are 1 year. It appears from the information released that both charges had expired before he was charged. Sounds like a little head hunting from the Sheriffs Office since that’s where the complaint started before it was turned over to FDLE. Sounds like Mr Grice may have had friends that the current admin’ didn’t agree with.

  10. molino jim on March 5th, 2012 8:32 am

    Hope FDLE didn’t spend a lot of time and money on this. He was wrong in what did—but how many of us have done something along the same line? If you are having work done and you ask how much it will cost and you are ask in return “will you be paying in cash or check” you’ll find there are two prices. To do a full investigation on this sound like busy work or “pay back”.

  11. 429SCJ on March 5th, 2012 7:33 am

    Maybe Sheriff Morgan can find something for him to do around the department, so he can at least get his retirement in. 20+ years service is a lot to loose over something so petty as tax fraud and improperly licensed vehicles. Remember he has yet to be convicted and sentenced by the Courts.

  12. whatthehay on March 5th, 2012 7:09 am

    Is that all? oh my gosh all this money spent on this criminal roundup, a title for a vehicle, well there was insurance on it I am sure, so who cares, oh I forgot the state wants more blood tax money. You cant sneeze without having to pay a tax.

  13. Jimbo on March 5th, 2012 6:56 am

    Nice way to end a career in law enforcement. Maybe he can run for county commissioner.

  14. not perfect on March 5th, 2012 6:47 am

    Ryan, I do not know any of these people involved, but no one is perfect, not even an officer of the law. Why does people think law officers are so much better than anyone else? We are all human and being a police officer doesn’t exempt us from wrong doing. Hopefully he will have to face whatever you or I would for committing a crime. You will find bad people where ever you go in all walks of life, even in our government!

  15. just my words on March 5th, 2012 5:58 am

    bet he isn’t the only one that has done that.

  16. ryan on March 5th, 2012 1:21 am

    and people think our officers dont do wrong

  17. SW on March 5th, 2012 1:02 am

    Someone wanted this officer out really bad, it seems.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News