ECSO Deputy Arrested, Fired For Stealing Money Orders After Traffic Stop

May 1, 2020

An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been arrested and terminated after he was accused of stealing money orders from a vehicle after making an arrest.

William Christopher Henley, 37, was charged with burglary, four counts of larceny, dealing in stolen property, fraud, two counts of intent to defraud and destroying evidence. He remained in the Escambia County Jail Friday afternoon without bond.

A woman contacted the ECSO to report money orders had been stolen from a vehicle driven by her boyfriend. The boyfriend was pulled over and arrested by Henley on outstanding warrants, and the vehicle was left behind. The women contacted Western Union  and was provided copies that showed they had been deposited by William Henley. The address on the money orders matched that in Henley’s ECSO employee file, according to an arrest report.

ECSO investigators obtained surveillance photos from Navy Federal that showed Henley in uniform depositing the money orders, the report states. The values of the money order were $200 and $500.

Henley was interviewed on Thursday. His statements were redacted from the arrest report.

He was arrested and booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond Thursday evening. He was also terminated from his position of four years with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Henley’s mugshot is exempt from the release under Florida law due to his law enforcement status. He is pictured in a 2019 photo after received a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) award for making over 100 DUI arrests the previous year. NorthEscambia.com photo.

Comments

39 Responses to “ECSO Deputy Arrested, Fired For Stealing Money Orders After Traffic Stop”

  1. Not surprised on May 4th, 2020 10:42 pm

    I hope this fine young officer can somehow be cleared. There must be something that can be done or may be some confusion. Just shocked we have such an honest and benevolent agency in our county. I’m sure this poor officer is somehow surely innocent.

  2. American Eagle on May 4th, 2020 2:47 pm

    He’ll be just fine! He is going get a better job, he’s ready to become a politician!

  3. mr haney on May 3rd, 2020 10:23 am

    i would imagine any arrest he has made will be contested with a good lawyer .

  4. Mike Trame on May 3rd, 2020 10:21 am

    He had to have known he would be caught. Anyone consider he tried this because he wanted “career suicide” and a change of life? As an officer he knew exactly what he was doing and did it on purpose for the thrill and change. He knew precisely what the outcome would be. He obviously wanted out of the profession and possibly out of his marriage/family life. Everything is traced including anything involving banks and as an officer he knows this even more so than a citizen. He was probably unhappy in career and life as I’m sure the profession is somewhat depressing after a number of years.

  5. Earl on May 3rd, 2020 8:27 am

    When some get sworn in, they think they have free reign to do anything they want
    Some get in this profession to feed their ego, some to take advantage of the public, then again..some deal with the profession as a hiding place.
    In law enforcement people in that profession are no different than any other profession of job holders everywhere
    From the president of the United States,,to the smallest aged offender..you have good people and bad people.
    Law enforcement is a representative of society as a whole…the good and the bad.
    A profession does not limit bad people or good people

  6. Elw on May 3rd, 2020 7:21 am

    I feel for his family. Maybe this was a one time, tempting moment. He looks like a nice young man. I know looks can be deceiving though. Let the courts deal with him, not the condemning public. If it was a first time to take something that didn’t belong to him, believe me, he’s having a lot of time to condemn himself.

  7. Blue eyes 64 on May 2nd, 2020 8:42 pm

    I don’t usually comment but this hit close to home. I dated a “Bad Cop” many years ago. Thank God this one was stopped in his tracks or maybe he wanted to get caught!!

  8. To victimized on May 2nd, 2020 11:47 am

    First off there is a processing fee,inmate id fee not to mention was 3 dollars a day maybe more now. The booking and I’d card alone are close to 50 Dollars so anytime you enter the detention facility with more than 75 dollars your gonna lose out

  9. Pull your shoes up on May 2nd, 2020 11:27 am

    You know the best way to keep law enforcement from stealing from you? Don’t have run-ins with them in the first place!! That means all of y’all whining about your personal property being taken by LEOs. Stop being idiots and getting arrested and you will likely never have anything taken from you by LEOs ever again.

    This person’s actions are despicable and he’ll likely get what he deserves.

    Always remember, a Lock’s purpose.is to keep honest people honest.

  10. They deleted my comment once! on May 2nd, 2020 10:57 am

    Chris is a thug. No way around it. Amongst this all, he’s a thief! Lowest of the low!

  11. Karen on May 2nd, 2020 9:42 am

    @MICHAEL O if you would read the article you would see the total was $700 but I guess you are a headline reader only and to lazy to read it all and want others to tell you what was said.

  12. JustSayin on May 2nd, 2020 9:30 am

    Not the the first or last officer to break a law.I agree they do not make high wages for the risks they can encounter. However they know what they are signing up for. Not too many years ago the SRSO had their yearly picnic fueled with confiscated property such as alcohol. After the party was over most,not all, got in their vehicles and drove home. Not all law enforcers are bad. There are bad apples in every profession. It all comes down to choices.

  13. fisherman on May 2nd, 2020 8:42 am

    @Victimized and TC and all other.
    If you have been a victim of theft by any law enforcement agency you owe it to yourself to report it.Theses reports may not go anywhere but at least you reported it. There are two groups of people I despise liars and thieves if you do one you will most likely do the other. There is no excuse for what this individual has done this probably isn’t the first time either but it was reported and look what has happened to him.

  14. Dave on May 2nd, 2020 8:22 am

    @Mike, the most dangerous job is a person trying to justify intelligence with “copy and pasting”

  15. Tc on May 2nd, 2020 7:33 am

    This is the ultimate betrayal . To be a victim of law enforcement. I’ve had property stolen from me by law enforcement in the past. Low as it gets . He needs his fingers cut off !

  16. Sedition on May 2nd, 2020 6:51 am

    To Protect and Serve.

    HAA!

    And there are people who still believe that!

  17. Tabby on May 2nd, 2020 6:15 am

    @Mike___I said no such thing sir. Nor did I say being a LEO was “the” most dangerous job or the lowest paying. You seem to have an attitude towards law enforcement. You must have a record or some type of negative interaction with an officer. And please, don’t tell me, your a logger ? But to go further, logging deaths you cite are more for northern loggers, not the pine loggers of the south. So please, save your commentary for a gal that doesn’t know any better.

  18. VICTIMIZED 2018 on May 2nd, 2020 1:17 am

    This is not the only person with ECSO lining their pockets by stealing.. I was arrested last year on an old warrent and took my pocketbook bc I figured I would need my license at some point. Never did I dream that when I got out 2 days later and retrieved my “property”. Everything was individually accounted for EXCEPT a$100 bill that was in my pocket book. I had other money’s that were filled in on a receipt . $1s-$5s-$10s- $20s and $100. And the amount total of each was pensilled in next to it’s like amount. But there was a big, fat nothing in the $100bill option.!! I did not even pursue the issue. I I figured it would be my word against who..?
    The ECSO. Who they gonna believe? The gal that was not happy about being arrested, or the sheriff office…?

  19. Jerry on May 1st, 2020 11:11 pm

    Think of all the people he put in jail, now he gets to sit right beside them

  20. Doug's daughter on May 1st, 2020 8:53 pm

    If this person has never been to jail before do not be surprised that he does not score enough points to get anything but probation. That’s the way the justice system works.

  21. Suzie B on May 1st, 2020 8:48 pm

    Anyone who has EVER used a money order knows it can be tracked. Blank or not, the numbers are there especially with computer systems handling them now. Bad choice made for sure. Whether someone needed the money worse than the next person doesn’t apply. It wasn’t his to take.

  22. Resident on May 1st, 2020 8:16 pm

    @mike. I didn’t see tabby make any such comment. Don’t put words in other’s mouths.

  23. Milke on May 1st, 2020 7:52 pm

    @Tabby
    You seem to justify the action of this guy by claiming that the job of police officers is dangerous and low paying.
    Well, none of these claims is true.
    The most dangerous job is logging, they have 10 times as many fatalities per 1000 workers than police and about 75% of police officers get. The second most dangerous job is commercial fishing followed by aircraft workers, roofers, recyclable collectors, iron and steel workers, truck drivers, farmers, etc., where police comes as #14.
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/careers/2018/01/09/workplace-fatalities-25-most-dangerous-jobs-america/1002500001/

  24. Tabby on May 1st, 2020 6:39 pm

    @Esc co leo & ESO SGT—-I will never judge all of you based on the actions of a few. Most good folks understand your job is tough, dangerous, and low paying. We understand you don’t receive nearly what you put into it. So take heart knowing the good people of Escambia County love you. This country wouldn’t be here today without the Sheriff Deputies.

  25. T A on May 1st, 2020 6:09 pm

    WOW! Does he think banks don’t have camera’s and to use his name & address! So sad for $700, I am sure will cost him way more than that! Prayers for the family!

  26. BRING IT ON on May 1st, 2020 5:52 pm

    Hey friend of family, he’s on video at Navy Federal. I don’t care if he’s a good guy or not. He represents the law and is not above it. Scratch a lie catch a thief. He deserves maximum punishment.

  27. ESO sergeant on May 1st, 2020 5:44 pm

    @ friendoffamily I’m sure he is a good person and his family is hurting. As a career law enforcement officer myself, it’s people like him that give the good ones a bad name. No one will remember his name but I guarantee you they see a green sheriff’s uniform that we all wear as the thief. So yes I feel bad for his family but not him. We all get out here and bust our butts to keep a good positive image. Even go work side jobs even when we don’t want to and be away from our families to make an extra dollar. So it’s no excuse for that behavior. To the public this is a BAD APPLE. Don’t judge the rest of us for him.

  28. John Doe on May 1st, 2020 5:43 pm

    man, he must have either been desperate, a clepto, or just not smart. $700?? Is that worth your career?

  29. Esc co leo on May 1st, 2020 5:37 pm

    Law enforcement does not tolerate this behavior among us. He was arrested within a single day of it being reported.

    I hope that action shows the public that we shouldn’t be judged by his example.

  30. chris on May 1st, 2020 5:32 pm

    I’m no genius, but a money order would be pretty easy to track. Maybe think things through if there is a next time.

  31. Friendoffamily on May 1st, 2020 5:17 pm

    I know this family, and Chris is actually a good guy. Not sure all the details, but he has a family that is hurting right now. We are not the judge, let’s leave that to the courts. I understand people being upset, and rightfully so but let’s not make a bunch of hateful comments.

  32. Douglas Moesta on May 1st, 2020 4:43 pm

    WOW!

  33. Jack on May 1st, 2020 4:20 pm

    Wow. Damn he is going to regret that for the rest of his life

  34. AC on May 1st, 2020 4:00 pm

    @Henry Coe;

    You got that right! Throw your entire career and future career opportunities away for $700.00?!? That’s probably less than one weeks salary for a deputy.

  35. Ron on May 1st, 2020 3:59 pm

    Need to investigate all those DUI

  36. Henry Coe on May 1st, 2020 3:37 pm

    Wow. That was stupid.

  37. MICHAEL O on May 1st, 2020 3:37 pm

    I am curious as to the amounts of each check he deposited. He is the reason people have trust issues with law enforcement

  38. Chris Saul on May 1st, 2020 3:34 pm

    He has no law inforcement status anymore.

    “He was arrested and booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond Thursday evening. He was also terminated from his position of four years with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.”

  39. JTV on May 1st, 2020 3:25 pm

    Thief!