A Lauderhill police officer was arrested on Tuesday after investigators said he took over the home of a man he found dead on a welfare check, spent more than two years renovating it, and used the dead man's identity — including on a building permit — as he tried to make the house his own. Officer Brian Louis Sguros, 35, faces five charges: official misconduct, criminal use of a deceased person's identification information, criminal use of personal identification information, offense against a computer user, and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
It began on July 11, 2022, when Sguros and another officer answered a welfare check at 4551 NW 12th St. A neighbour, Lethel Haye, had not seen the homeowner, Dennis Ionis West, for about two weeks. The officers entered through an unlocked front door and found West's body near the entrance. An autopsy ruled his death natural, from cardiovascular disease.
According to the Broward Sheriff's Office arrest affidavit, Sguros then identified himself to the medical examiner's office as West's friend and offered to handle the funeral arrangements — even though West had surviving family members and legal heirs. In sworn court documents, Sguros acknowledged taking possession of the home around August 1, 2022. He says he invested at least $214,000 renovating it over more than two years, raising its value to about $500,000, and he paid the property taxes. Nearly two years after West's death, he made a utility payment of more than $2,500 in West's name.
Investigators say the paper trail kept growing. Sguros ran seven improper searches on his police-issued computer between July 2022 and January 2023 — and one search in January 2023 showed West as deceased, meaning he knew. In August 2024 he filed a building permit for an $8,000 window and door project listing West as the owner, using West's driver's licence information and a forged notary appearance. In February 2025, he and another individual filed paperwork attempting to claim the property by adverse possession.
The scheme unravelled when Equinox Realty Holdings tracked down West's surviving heirs and acquired their ownership interests, which a Broward County court recognised. The company's attorney complained to the Lauderhill Police Department, and the case was investigated with the Broward County Property Appraiser's Deed Fraud Task Force and BSO detectives, producing a 21-page arrest affidavit. Sguros eventually surrendered the keys — but in February 2026 he filed a civil lawsuit seeking an equitable lien to recover the money he says he put into the house. The allegations are contained in the affidavit; the case now goes through the courts.