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Former Sanford police officer arrested, charged with lying on timesheets

SANFORD, Fla. — A former Sanford police officer was arrested Thursday on more than 100 charges stemming from timesheets that investigators say listed times he allegedly never worked.

Jason Bunch, who had been with the Sanford Police Department since March 2003, resigned from the force on Monday after having been placed on administrative leave in November, officials said.

The former officer was assigned to the Community Relations Unit in downtown Sanford.

According to investigators, on numerous occasions Bunch logged himself as working off-duty shifts at the same time he claimed to be working his regular shift assignment.

“He was also found to have failed to show up for off-duty details, yet continued to bill the vendor for services, and on numerous occasions, abandoned his assigned area during his shift and returned home,” the department said in a news release.

On May 18, Bunch said he responded to a call for service in Sanford, going as far as saying he arrived at the scene, looked for the subject and left without finding them, investigators said.

At the time, the officer was in Orlando and could not have responded to the call, a Sanford arrest report said.

In all, investigators said that the alleged false timesheet information netted Bunch more than $8,000 between January and November.

He is facing 99 counts of official misconduct, a count of grand larceny and a count of failure to perform duty required of an officer.

Bunch was being held at the Seminole County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling more than $300,000.