LYNNWOOD — A Lynnwood Police Department deputy chief is under investigation for allegedly stealing more than $14,000 cash plus cocaine and firearms seized in criminal investigations, court documents show.
Paul C. Watkins, 50, one of two of the department’s deputy chiefs, is the subject of an FBI investigation into allegations that in 2002 he took money, several grams of cocaine and two guns from the custody of Snohomish County Superior Court and never booked the items into the Lynnwood police evidence room, according to documents made public today in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Watkins said he placed the items into Lynnwood police evidence lockers but failed to follow department policy and make entries into log books, said an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of a search last week on Watkins’ home.
“These items were never received by the Lynnwood Police Department’s evidence section and all efforts to locate them have been made to no avail,” the affidavit said.
Reached at his home on Wednesday evening, Watkins declined comment.
The documents say that Watkins is also suspected of stealing money that was supposed to be forfeited to the city of Lynnwood or returned to its original owners between October 2001 and continuing through October 2005.
Watkins has a history of financial problems, including seeking bankruptcy protection four times between 1987 and 2004 and at one point faced a $10,000 lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service, according to court papers.
The FBI agent said a check of Watkins’ financial records showed he “made several suspicious cash deposits into his bank account” during the time period now under investigation.
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