Lauderhill Police officer accused of taking over dead man’s home, used victim’s ID to get repair permits
A Lauderhill Police officer was arrested on Tuesday after being accused by investigators of taking possession of a dead man’s home. Thirty-five-year-old Brian Louis Sguros...
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Lauderhill Police officer was arrested on Tuesday after being accused by investigators of taking possession of a dead man’s home.
Thirty-five-year-old Brian Louis Sguros was put behind bars and was accused of official misconduct after an alleged adverse possession scheme.
The arrest happened after an investigation that lasted several months.
The incident began with a welfare check in July 2022 at a home owned by Dennis Ionis West, who reportedly hadn’t been seen by a neighbor in some time.
“It was a week, week and a half. He was taking groceries out of his car, and he never came back to close the door or take the rest of the groceries out, ” said Naomi, a neighbor who called 911 following West’s disappearance.
Naomi said she was worried about West, who she said lived alone.
“They knocked, no answer. The sergeant came, the sergeant opened the front door, and his body was at the front door,” she said.
Sguros was one of the officers who responded to the welfare check, and in the months following West’s death, investigators said that he illegally took possession of West’s home.
“He said that that was his friend, and the friend gave him the house before he passed away,” said Naomi.
She claimed that Sguros regularly came over and chatted with her and her family, and she said he planned to rent out the home as an Airbnb.
“And he was working on the house for a good while, and tore down everything on the inside, put up new stuff and everything,” she said. “Come to find out that he wasn’t a part of anything.”
In an arrest report, Broward Sheriff’s Office investigators said that Sguros, “…paid the taxes and utilities at the home in West’s name […] and used West’s identification… to get the city of Lauderhill to issue a permit to facilitate repairs…”
They also said that Sguros “also forged West’s signature on the permit…” and “filed paperwork with [Broward County Property Appraiser] in Feb. 2025 stating his possession of the property dated back to Aug. 2022, just weeks after West’s death…”
Sguros is now behind bars at the Broward County Main Jail as of Tuesday afternoon, and is expected to appear before a judge on Wednesday.
Lauderhill Police Department officials said that he is on administrative leave without pay, pending the outcome of the case.
