Prosecutors have opted not to press charges against a Pinellas County sheriff's lieutenant accused of stealing a campaign sign in the hotly contested sheriff's election, though the officer still faces potential discipline within the Sheriff's Office.
Traci Reid, employed at the county jail, is suspected of taking a sign for former Pinellas Sheriff Everett Rice, who is facing current Sheriff Bob Gualtieri in the Republican primary next week. The sign disappeared from a business in Largo on June 12.
Largo police referred the case to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office for possible prosecution. Prosecutors chose not to file charges after Rice said he did not wish to pursue the case, officials at the State Attorney's Office said.
Gualtieri said Monday that an internal affairs file has already been opened on the incident, but that investigators were waiting for a charging decision from the state attorney before proceeding.
Informed that prosecutors were not moving forward with the case, he said the Sheriff's Office will "proceed immediately with the internal investigation."
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