#Socialites, come get into this: Lauderhill police officer Brian Louis Sguros, 35, was arrested Tuesday on charges of fraud and falsifying official documents as a public servant. Per the South Florida Sun Sentinel, he was booked on a warrant listing five felony offenses, including stealing a deceased man’s identity and taking his home with no legal authority. Yup… you read that right.
The house belonged to Dennis Ionis West, a 71-year-old who died of natural causes in 2022, and the way investigators tell it, the officer saw an empty property and decided it was his.
So what exactly went down? Well, Sguros was one of two cops who responded to a welfare check at West’s home on July 11, 2022. West was found dead inside. According to the affidavit, Sguros allegedly got into the house about a month later and never really left. Investigators say he used his badge to build the new “version” of the homeowner.
He’s accused of running West’s name through his department-issued computer on several occasions to pull the dead man’s DMV and Social Security records. The affidavit also says he paid the utility bills in West’s name and forged the late man’s signature to get construction permits. He’s further accused of claiming West had no surviving relatives, which investigators say was false…
Now, Mr. Sguros claimed he put $214,000 into the place, pushing its value up to around half a million dollars, and he paid taxes on a property still registered under West’s estate. His explanation was that he was protecting the house… He said he did it to guard it from criminal activity and squatters, tearing out rotten boards and cleaning the place up.
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A real estate company called Equinox Realty Holding got involved and found West’s rightful heirs, who wanted the house. Sguros reportedly agreed to hand over the keys, but he wanted to be paid back for the work. When the family said no, he filed a civil suit in February 2026. The nerve.
A complaint was filed with the Lauderhill Police Department after the realty company’s lawyer found he had allegedly misused his police duties to get information on West. Sguros was suspended with pay in July, was placed on unpaid leave after Tuesday’s arrest, and is being held in the Broward County Jail. He joined the department in March 2021.
The investigation remains ongoing. At this time, It’s not clear whether Sguros has obtained an attorney. Sguros appeared in court on Wednesday and has been ordered to be held on a $25,000 bond, NBC South Florida reported.