Ex-Police Sergeant Sentenced for Burglary
A former police sergeant was sentenced to nine months in jail Monday after pleading guilty to two felony counts of burglary.
Donald Dye, an eight-year veteran of the Seal Beach force, also received a three-year probation term and must undergo drug treatment, according to Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. John Anderson and Seal Beach police.
The charges stemmed from an investigation into allegations that Dye stole prescription drugs from Leisure World residents.
The investigation began in February when Seal Beach police received a complaint from a caretaker working for a Leisure World resident, Anderson said. The caretaker reported seeing Dye looking around the resident’s home, asking questions and taking notes on people arriving and leaving.
The caretaker, suspicious about whether Dye was indeed a police officer, contacted police. The department began an internal affairs investigation and in March referred the case to the district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said their investigation determined that Dye had tried to steal drugs, including codeine derivatives, from more than a dozen Leisure World residents between 1996 and 1998.
Dye, who resigned in March amid the investigation, faces a seven-year maximum state prison sentence if he violates any term of his probation, authorities said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
