An investigator for a South Florida medical examiner’s office was arrested after he allegedly stole the debit card information of at least one deceased county resident, according to court records.
Darrell Reid, 38, of Pembroke Pines was arrested on Jan. 19 and charged with three counts of fraudulent use of the personal identification of a deceased person and one count of fraudulent use of a debit card, according to arrest records.
Reid allegedly stole debit card information from a dead person during an investigation and sent $450 to his girlfriend via Cash App. Police believe there could be other victims.
Authorities were first alerted to Reid's alleged scheme when the daughter of a man who died in Broward County reached out to police after she noticed three suspicious charges on her dead father's Bank of America debit card, according to an arrest warrant and affidavit obtained by Fox 35.
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The deceased man's daughter claimed no one had permission to use her father's debit card after his death, and she wanted to pursue criminal charges.
Police said these transactions were listed on bank statements as three separate Cash App payments to a woman named Shanika Wright for $150 each.
Reid allegedly added the Bank of America debit card to his Cash App account on Oct. 21, 2023, less than two hours after he had left the scene. He allegedly used the Bank of America debit card three times to send $150 to Shanika Wright, before removing it from his account on Oct. 24, 2023.
Investigators also discovered other transactions connected to people who died in Broward County last year, one on Oct. 30 and the other on Nov. 6.
The information police received from Cash App revealed that 27 separate payment sources, including 25 debit or credit cards and two Cash App cards, were added to Reid's account from when his account was created in 2020 to Nov. 8, 2023, according to the affidavit.
Police also linked Reid’s CashApp account to the credit card of a man who died in New York City in December 2022, the Sun-Sentinel reported. At the time, Reid was an investigator for the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, according to the arrest affidavit.
"Due to the aforementioned facts of this investigation, there is probable cause to believe that Darrell Reid has committed the listed offenses as he has engaged in a pattern of repeatedly stealing debit and credit card numbers and from death scenes and cases he was entrusted with investigating," police told Fox 35.
The investigation into these account holders is still active, and several subpoenas have been served to multiple banks, according to officials.
The Coral Springs Police Department believes there could be other victims. Anyone with information related to the investigation or suspects a late loved one may have been a victim, is encouraged to contact Sgt. Brian Koenig at Bkoenig@coralsprings.gov.
According to online court records, Reid posted bail and a court date has yet to be set.
