New Orleans police Superintendent Warren Riley says his department is questioning some of their own deputy chiefs and commanders to learn if $18,000 was stolen from the NOPD evidence room.

The evidence bag was supposed to hold the $35,000 dollars that a judge ordered to be returned to Rick Tessier's client, but the bag was missing over $18,000 dollars.

"They stopped counting around $16,000, and that's when the police realized it was a problem," said Tessier.

Riley said he will start with questioning the last two commanders who were charge of the property and evidence room.

“Capt. Lawless, he was in charge of the property room. Chief Bryson is no longer in charge of the property room, he was removed from that position in January,” said Riley at a press conference.

But riley says Bryson wasn't removed because of misconduct, just because he wanted to promote Lawrence Weathersby to the position. Still, he admits before Weathersby took over in January too many people had access to narcotics and money room.

“Under the previous commander, I believe, 12 people have keys. That is a certainly problem, that was immediately changed when that was learned,” Riley said.

Tessier agrees that was a major problem. "This evidence shouldn't go through anyone else hands that isn't the NOPD."

NOPD officials hope to find the money was lost and not stolen in the move of evidence from criminal court to the trailers on Jefferson Davis Parkway to their newest home on Magnolia Street.

“That money could possibly be in another envelope,” Riley said.

But Tessier says that's almost impossible that it would be in another bag, adding usually those bags aren't reopened until the end of the case, and if they are, he says the bag would have the initials of who opened it and a documented reason why. 

The bag didn't have any initials on it, so now Tessier will file to have the money repaid to his client from another pot of money.