Ex-cop patrolling Kissimmee subdivision closely connected to HOA property manager

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — 9 Investigates looked into how an ex-North Carolina company police officer, who is a now a convicted felon, was hired by an HOA management company that oversees security for a Kissimmee neighborhood.

Management 35 Firm, the owner of that property management company, has deep connections to ex-police officer Joseph Conover.

9 Investigates' Karla Ray confronted Conover last week after neighbors told her they were afraid of him because of his prior conviction for assaults and obstruction of justice.

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After exposing concerns about Conover’s role in the community, Osceola County pulled the permit that allowed Management 35 Firm to block off certain streets in the neighborhood around school release time.

Management 35 Firm’s automated phone system refers to Conover as "the chief" and Sherry Raposo as the manager of the company. Raposo was once the president of the Turnberry Reserve HOA.

A current search of the property appraiser’s website turns up nothing for either of them, indicating the two obtained some kind of exemption to remove their property ownership information from public view, but a screengrab saved by a concerned neighbor shows the two share a home in the community.

A Google search of the address ties it to Management 35 Firm.

Read: Neighbors question ex-officer turned felon ‘patrolling’ Kissimmee community

Ray traveled to the home Monday to try to ask Raposo and Conover questions. Raposo could be seen through a window at the front door, but she did not answer any questions.

A deeper dive into Raposo and Conover’s history shows they both served as registered agents of Nova Security, a formerly-licensed security agency under which Conover patrolled apartment complexes in Orange and Seminole Counties.

Sheriff’s Office reports obtained by 9 Investigates show multiple incidents of Conover using mace and his Taser on people in Florida in the late 2000s.

He never got in trouble for use of force in Florida, but in North Carolina he was convicted in 2017 of obstruction and assault after being accused of improperly tasing and arresting people as a law enforcement officer under the state’s company police program.

That conviction is part of the reason that Conover cannot be a security officer in Florida today.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' criminal division is now looking into the situation at Turnberry.

State Representative Mike La Rosa said he has also asked investigators to keep him in the loop as to what they find out.

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