Following a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation, charges have been filed against two Central Florida law enforcement officers for falsifying a report.
FDLE began its investigation in June at the request of Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood.
Investigators said Orange County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brian Calkins gave Phillip Donaldson—who at the time was a deputy for Volusia County Sheriff’s Office—two firearms that he said he had “gotten from a cousin.”
Calkins asked Donaldson to dispose of the weapons — a revolver and semi-automatic pistol.
Donaldson asked other VCSO deputies how he should dispose of the weapons, but after learning one of the weapons had been reported stolen, he and Calkins worked together to make up a story about where the weapons came from.
Donaldson wrote in his VCSO report that “an elderly female stopped him and gave him the guns.”
Donaldson wrote that the elderly lady told him that she had found the weapons in the bushes in front of her house.
After the report was submitted, other VCSO deputies, including Donaldson’s supervisor, became suspicious of the conflicting stories and reported their concerns, at which time FDLE was contacted.
Donaldson resigned the day after he wrote the report.
Calkins and Donaldson were given an October notice to appear in court. The Office of the State Attorney, Seventh Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case.
Sheriff Chitwood has zero tolerance for corrupt cops.
