MOUNT DORA, Fla. — 9 Investigates has new details about the Oakland police officer who was hired a day after he agreed to resign from the Mount Dora Police Department while under investigation.
In less than a year working in the sleepy town in west Orange County, Barry Strykowski’s photo is now on top in the station lobby because he was recently promoted to sergeant, even though he’s still a probationary employee.
But hours after 9 Investigates started asking questions in Mount Dora and Oakland, Strykowski was suspended.
Before the suspension, WFTV obtained his personnel file from Oakland, which included his employment application. His 51-page personnel file showed Strykowski applied to work at the Oakland Police Department on April 1 of last year while he was still under investigation at the Mount Police Department and had been for than five months.
The department found that he misrepresented his attendance, stealing time from taxpayers, which is a crime, and misused his patrol car.
Strykowski signed a separation agreement that required him to resign on April 17, then started working at the Oakland Police Department just five days later, according to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Mount Dora Police Chief Mike Gibson said Oakland never requested internal investigations or discipline records before hiring Strykowski.
On his application, when asked if he separated or resigned from a previous agency while under investigation, Strykowski checked “false.” It’s dated a day after Strykowski and Mount Dora signed off on his separation agreement.
9 Investigates questioned why a Mount Dora police captain emailed Oakland with claims that Strykowski had no open cases and no discipline. Technically, it’s true because the investigation had closed two days earlier and he was never disciplined. Gibson said this was “partly correct. The discipline was leaving, resignation.”
In his Oakland application, when asked if he had been involuntarily terminated or asked to resign from a previous job, Strykowski checked “no.” Where it asked if he had ever resigned or been allowed to resign, Strykoski checked “no.” When asked if he ever falsified timesheets, the answer again was “no.”
City records and GPS logs WFTV reviewed determined Strykowski was charging taxpayers or off-duty details for time he never worked, which was never reported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The chief said he chose not to, even though it’s a crime.
In January, 9 Investigates reported three Orlando police officers were put on leave amid criminal investigations into fraudulent time sheets, including two that the department previously did not disclose. Their cases were forwarded to the state attorney for review.
The Mount Dora police chief said Strykowski used his department-issued car to steal time from taxpayers, claiming to be on duty as an officer or extra duty details. Records from police headquarters show it went on for at least five months between October 2023 and March 2024, allowing him to be compensated for two different commitments simultaneously, according to internal affairs investigators.
Gibson said he was not fired because the Mount Dora Police Department has a dispute resolution process that allows the agency to negotiate discipline and/or an exit strategy.
In this case, the separation agreement shows the city paid Strykowski a total of more about $12,418 in accrued vacation time and sick leave and allowed him to walk away with no discipline on his record, despite a 22-page investigation that determined he had, in fact, misrepresented his time and attendance.
When asked if Strykowski would have lost his law enforcement certification if the case had been turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, given that he was accused of stealing time and had records to prove it, Gibson replied, “That is up to them. It goes to a commission, but they would make that decision.”
Oakland Police Chief Darran Esan wouldn’t speak on camera but told WFTV behind closed doors that he didn’t know about it at the time and provided an emailed statement about five hours later that said:
“On today’s date, the Oakland Police Department received information which alleged the application for employment received from Barry Strykowski excluded information which may have disqualified him from being hired by the department. Barry Strykowski was previously employed by the Mount Dora Police Department up to his swearing-in at Oakland. Barry Strykowski was immediately suspended pending an internal investigation into the validity of the allegations. The active internal investigation makes further comments improper until the final disposition is determined.”
Esan showed a Florida Department of Law Enforcement profile sheet, which we had already obtained, and the state’s records show Strykowski voluntarily separated from Mount Dora under circumstances not involving misconduct.
When we followed up with additional questions about the Mount Dora investigation, Esan replied, in part, “They sent back a link to his personnel file which was in excess of 900 pages. The 22 page investigation is not found in that file.”
Strykowski was required to relinquish his vehicle and other equipment pending the outcome of the investigation.
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