Katie Moore / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- An insurance scheme that allegedly involved at least two New Orleans Police officers also entangled a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputy.
Sheriff Newell Normand said Deputy Danny Spears resigned over the allegations last week, and in a tragic development, it appears one of the New Orleans police officers involved took his own life.
Sources said the scheme allegedly began with New Orleans Sgt. Kevin Guillot. According to the sheriff, Guillot filed a report saying his truck was stolen at a Jefferson Parish boat launch, and Spears admitted to investigators that he wrote the fraudulent report.
“We were notified last week he was fully cooperating with the investigation and he had made some admissions relative to criminal culpability with regard to an insurance claim investigation by the federal authorities,” Normand said.
Once he learned about it, Normand said he called Spears in for a hearing.
“That's why I called the meeting to terminate him, but at the advent of our meeting, he showed up at the district that night late, turned in all of his stuff and he resigned,” the sheriff said.
Both he and New Orleans Police Chief Ronal Serpas said they have been cooperating with the FBI for several months now.
“The case is more than I can talk about right now. The case is active,” Serpas said.
According to sources Guillot also filed a false report in New Orleans saying the truck, or parts of it, had been recovered.
Officer Salvadore Battaglia allegedly wrote that report. Battaglia's attorney said he too was cooperating with investigators.
But the St. Tammany Sheriff's Office found Battaglia dead in his home Tuesday night, the victim of an apparent suicide.
“We hope that there will be some way that we can help this family close this chapter in their life. We have, our department psychiatrist has also made himself available for anybody in the department who may need to get some assistance at this time,” Serpas said.
“It's a gut check for the law enforcement community and for the community at large,” Normand said.
Serpas said Guillot and Battaglia have been on administrative reassignment during the investigation.
“I've known about the investigation for a very long time. The investigation has been in place for quite a while. It came to a conclusion last week, and then that's when we immediately administratively reassigned the officers,” said Serpas.
The FBI would not comment on it, and police wouldn't say whether any additional officers may have played a role.
According to the NOPD, two FBI agents assigned to the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau have been working on it. No federal charges have been filed yet.
