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BROOKSVILLE — A veteran deputy of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office was placed on two months' probation and given a written reprimand after an internal investigation found he gave a gold watch to a pawnbroker instead of turning it in to the agency.
The Sheriff's Office was able to sustain allegations that Deputy Arthur Waskey found a watch in the backseat of his patrol vehicle in July and gave it to Norman Aldrich, a longtime friend and owner of Easy Money Pawn.
Waskey, a 10-year-veteran of the agency, said he gave the watch to Aldrich because he wasn't sure who left it in the car and he thought Aldrich could use it because he likes to collect and repair watches, according to reports from the investigation.
Aldrich told investigators the watch was worth only $25 or $30, and said he had no use for it. Aldrich offered to put a battery in the watch and suggested Waskey give it to his wife but the deputy declined. Waskey didn't attempt to sell the watch, the report said, but he still left the watch at the store.
Aldrich later contacted the Sheriff's Office and handed over the watch after his wife suggested that "he was being set up."
Waskey, 52, later admitted that he had made a mistake in not turning in the watch to the Sheriff's Office property and evidence unit, as per the agency's policy.
"It was a stupid move on my part," Waskey told investigators during an interview last month.
Joel Anderson can be reached at joelanderson@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6120.
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