Christopher Depaolis receives an annual $82,000 disability pension from the New York Police Department after injuring his knee on duty as a cop.
But now, he's running marathons in South Florida and picking up a $52,000-a-year salary as a Broward sheriff's deputy – all while continuing to collect the disability payments.
The Broward Sheriff's Office said the fact that DePaolis left the NYPD in 2013 due to disability wasn't disclosed when it hired DePaolis last year, and that it is reviewing the hire, which was initially reported by the New York Daily News.
Part of that review may include Facebook posts made by DePaolis back in 2012 that indicate he made an intentional decision to milk the government for every penny he could. He wrote the post, which is replete with misspellings and poor grammar, just after President Obama was reelected and while he was still employed at the NYPD.
"Well, as I sit here and still shocked, I also now feel I should apply for my SS disability once I get approve for disability with this job," he wrote. "My plan was not to supply for it but after today's election it goes to show the rest of this state feel they should get as much free as they can so why should I not jump [on] the wagon. I now (will) take whatever I can get for this state and not feel one bit bad. If everyone else is going to get free (expletive) and not have to work … I plan to do the same now."
The following year he retired with the $82,000 disability pension and then moved to Florida. Jeff Bell, chapter president of the International Union of Police Associations, said DePaolis' employment at BSO doesn't appear to violate the laws of Florida or New York.
"We've not been contacted by the deputy, we've not been contacted by the sheriff's office from any type of criminal matter or internal investigation, so from a union point of view, he's a great employee," Bell said, adding that the disability payments for the marathon-running DePaolis was New York's problem. "If New York has loopholes that New York citizens and citizens of Broward County feel that somebody on the surface may be taking advantage of something, then they need to close those loopholes."
The NYPD is also conducting a probe into DePaolis' continuing disability payments.