Lauderhill Police Officer Accused of Taking Over Dead Man's Home After Welfare Check, Using His Identity on Permit

A Lauderhill police officer was arrested Tuesday, Oct. 20, accused of taking over the home of a man whose body he helped find during a 2022 welfare check, then using the dead man's identity to obtain a city building permit for renovations, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit. Brian Louis Sguros, 35, faces charges including official misconduct and criminal use of a deceased person's identification information. He has not been convicted of any crime, and the allegations have not been tested in court.

The case grew out of a joint investigation by BSO detectives and the Broward County Property Appraiser's office, and it came to light after Sguros went to court seeking to be repaid for money he said he spent fixing up the house. Lauderhill police have placed him on administrative leave without pay.

A welfare check in July 2022

According to the 21-page affidavit described by WPLG Local 10, Sguros and another Lauderhill officer responded on July 11, 2022, to a welfare check at 4551 NW 12th St. A neighbor had called because she had not seen the homeowner, Dennis Ionis West, in about two weeks.

Officers went in through an unlocked front door and found West dead near the entrance. An autopsy found he died of cardiovascular disease, and his death was ruled natural. A neighbor told WSVN that West had been unloading groceries and never came back to close his car door.

Investigators said body camera footage showed Sguros taking part in the response but gave no indication he told the other officers he knew West. Records later showed Sguros identified himself as West's friend when dealing with the medical examiner's office and offered to handle funeral arrangements if relatives could not be found, according to the affidavit. Investigators later determined West had several surviving relatives and legal heirs.

Weeks later, a new occupant

Sguros acknowledged in sworn court filings that he took possession of the property around Aug. 1, 2022, just weeks after West's death, the affidavit states. He said he spent more than two years cleaning, securing and renovating the house, invested at least $214,000 of his own money and raised its value to about $500,000. He maintained the work was meant to protect a vacant home from squatters and crime, authorities said.

Investigators said property records show Sguros paid property taxes on the home, which remained registered to West's estate, and made a payment of more than $2,500 on a utility account still in West's name nearly two years after he died. In February 2025, Sguros and another person filed paperwork with the Property Appraiser's office seeking to establish adverse possession, a claim that his possession dated to August 2022. The filing did not give them legal ownership, according to the affidavit.

Neighbors noticed. "I was wondering, Dennis had just passed away and how could he have gotten the house so quick," neighbor Lethel Haye told Local 10. Another neighbor told WSVN that Sguros said West was his friend and had given him the house before he died, and that he planned to rent it out on Airbnb.

The building permit

At the center of the identity charges is an August 2024 building permit application for an $8,000 project to replace windows and exterior doors. The paperwork listed West as the owner, included his driver's license information and carried a signature purporting to be his, investigators said. It also indicated West had appeared before a notary in August 2024, more than two years after his death. The phone number listed for West belonged to Sguros, according to the affidavit.

An employee of the contractor on the job told detectives Sguros supplied the documents for the permit, including a copy of West's driver's license, and that the employee believed West was alive and owned the property. Detectives reviewed text messages between the two that included images of West's identification and permit paperwork. The notary whose name appeared on the document told investigators she did not recognize it, the signature was not hers and the stamp appeared smaller than the one she uses, according to the affidavit.

Police database searches

The affidavit also accuses Sguros of using his Lauderhill Police Department computer to run seven searches on West's driver's license and vehicle registration between July 2022 and January 2023. The results included West's address, date of birth, Social Security number and vehicle details, and a January 2023 search identified West as deceased, investigators said.

How the case surfaced

The case unraveled after a real estate company, Equinox Realty Holdings, located West's heirs and acquired their ownership interests, which a Broward County court recognized, according to the affidavit. Sguros surrendered the keys but in February 2026 filed a civil lawsuit seeking an equitable lien on the property to recover his renovation costs. The company's attorney then filed a complaint with the Lauderhill Police Department.

Lauderhill police said their investigation began May 27 after receiving a complaint, NBC 6 reported. Sguros was relieved of duty and placed on paid administrative leave on July 22, then moved to unpaid leave after his arrest. The Property Appraiser's Deed Fraud Task Force and BSO detectives carried out the investigation.

"We hold police officers in the highest regard because they take an oath to protect the public," Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar said in a statement to Local 10. "This case is so troubling because this officer has been charged with using his position to defraud the public."

The charges

According to the affidavit, investigators found probable cause for five charges:

• Official misconduct
• Criminal use of a deceased person's identification information
• Criminal use of personal identification information
• Offense against a computer user
• Unlawful use of a two-way communications device

What's next

Sguros was booked into the Broward County Main Jail and was expected to make a first appearance before a judge on Wednesday, WSVN reported. Bond information and whether he has an attorney were not available in the reports reviewed. The Broward State Attorney's Office will decide what formal charges to file. Lauderhill police said he will remain on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the case.