Tampa Policeman Who Insured Boat After It Sank Charged With Fraud

A Tampa police detective was arrested Thursday on allegations that he fraudulently insured his boat — after it sank. Sgt. Shane Gadoury, a 15-year veteran of the Tampa Police Department, faces a charge of filing a false and fraudulent insurance claim. He has been placed on administrative duty.

“I’m disappointed Shane has placed himself in this position,” said Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan in a statement issued Thursday. He also faces an internal investigation by the police department.

The incident took place in November, according to a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. Gadoury lives in Wesley Chapel but kept his boat docked at friend’s place in Hernando County. The friend called Gadoury on Nov. 18 and told him that the boat was “sitting low in the water.”

The next day, Nov. 19, the friend told Gadoury that the boat capsized. Gadoury called the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office at about 6:12 p.m. and asked the agency to send a deputy to check on his boat, saying on a recorded line that “there’s something wrong with it ... and it may have capsized.”

Then at 6:19 p.m., the report said, Gadoury called a recorded Progressive phone line and had the insurance policy reinstated.