Former MPD Officer Sentenced For Stealing From Woman Who Was Under Arrest-Officer Took And Cashed $962 In Money Orders-

     WASHINGTON – A former Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer, Alexander Rodriguez, was ordered today to perform 40 hours of community service and placed on six months of probation for stealing $962 in money orders from a woman who was under arrest, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     Rodriguez, 33, pled guilty in November 2013 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to a charge of second-degree theft. He was sentenced by the Honorable John McCabe. The judge sentenced Rodriguez to 90 days of incarceration, but suspended the jail time provided that the defendant successfully completes a six-month term of probation.

     As a condition of his plea agreement, Rodriguez, who had worked for more than five years for MPD, resigned his position. He also paid the victim $1,200 in restitution, covering the value of the two money orders and related costs and the dollar equivalent of a day of lost pay for which she was not compensated by her employer.

     According to the government’s evidence, on July 4, 2013, at about 2:30 a.m., Rodriguez responded to the area of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE to investigate a traffic accident involving the woman. After she was placed under arrest for driving under the influence, Rodriguez took possession of her purse, which contained two money orders.

     While at the Sixth District police station, Rodriguez searched the woman’s purse and found a loaded handgun. He then amended the charges against her and continued his inventory of the purse. He listed several items, including credit cards, a phone, $2.01, a driver’s license, and multiple smaller purses. However, he did not list the money orders.

     After the woman’s release from jail, she returned to the Sixth District to retrieve her property. She found that the two money orders were missing and initiated a trace of them through Western Union. The trace found that both money orders had been cashed and were made out to “Alexander Rodriguez Photograph.” The money orders were cashed by a person later identified as Rodriguez in Alexandria, Va., and the signatures on both the front and back of the cashed money orders matched those on his lease agreement and related checks.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigator Matthew Kutz, Paralegal Specialist Krishawn Graham, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jean Sexton, who prosecuted the matter.