Florida Officer Faces Charges After Allegedly Assuming Dead Man's Identity

Brian Louis Sguros, 35, a Lauderhill, Florida, police officer, was arrested Tuesday on five felony counts tied to the 2022 death of Dennis West, 71, according to a Broward County Sheriff's Office news release cited by NBC News. Investigators say Sguros responded to a welfare check at West's Lauderhill home on July 11, 2022, found West dead inside, and weeks later moved into that same house under West's name — a stretch investigators say lasted years.

What happened during the 2022 welfare check?

The Broward County Sheriff's Office says Sguros, then an officer with the Lauderhill Police Department, was among the responders dispatched to West's home on July 11, 2022, according to the agency's news release reported by NBC News. West's death was ruled the result of natural causes, the release states. No charges were filed against Sguros, or anyone else, in connection with West's death itself.

What is Sguros accused of doing afterward?

According to investigators cited by NBC News, Sguros moved into West's home in the weeks following the welfare check and began living there under West's identity. The arrest stems from allegations that he renovated the property and used West's personal and identifying information to maintain that identity for an extended period — years, by investigators' account — rather than from any allegation connected to how West died.

What charges does Sguros face?

Sguros faces five felony charges, per the sheriff's office: official misconduct, criminal use of a deceased person's identification, criminal use of personal identification information, offense against a computer user, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. The official-misconduct charge reflects his status as a sworn Lauderhill police officer at the time of the alleged conduct, while the identification-related counts track directly to the claim that he used West's name and personal data to pass as West.

What is not yet known about the case?

NBC News reports it is not clear whether Sguros has retained an attorney, and no plea or formal response from him has been made public. The reporting does not specify what prompted investigators to reopen scrutiny of West's home years after the 2022 welfare check, nor does it detail how long Sguros remained employed by the Lauderhill Police Department during the alleged impersonation. Those gaps — the trigger for the investigation and the department's internal timeline — are likely to surface as the case moves through Broward County's court system. For now, the sheriff's office release and Sguros's arrest Tuesday are the only confirmed developments; the underlying circumstances of how a sworn officer allegedly lived for years as the man he was called to check on remain under investigation.