Ex-Port Orange police sergeant jailed for violating probation; gun, samurai sword in home

DAYTONA BEACH — Former Port Orange police sergeant Steven Braddock was sentenced on Monday to 30 days in the county jail for violating his probation after officers found a gun, a samurai-style sword and bullets in his home.

Braddock lowered his head after Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano pronounced the sentence. Minutes later, a bailiff handcuffed Braddock, who was then fingerprinted and escorted out of the courtroom to be taken to jail.

Braddock and his wife, Mary Braddock, were placed on five years probation on Dec. 1 stemming from an exploitation of the elderly case.

Mary Braddock was also accused of violating probation, but Zambrano dismissed the complaint against her. The judge found that she was unaware that there was a firearm in the house. But Zambrano warned her to make sure that she was following the terms of her probation and if she had any questions to ask her probation officer.

Steven Braddock, 52, was charged in 2019 with exploitation of an elderly person or disabled adult and with uttering a forgery, both felonies. Mary Braddock, 52, was charged with being a principal to the same offenses, meaning she was also accused of participating in the crimes.

Besides sentencing them to probation in December, Zambrano withheld adjudication, meaning they do not have felony convictions on their records. Zambrano kept the withhold of adjudication on Monday.

Exploitation of the elderly: Ex-Port Orange police sergeant, wife plead no contest to exploitation of elderly, forgery

Ex-police sergeant gets probation: Former Port Orange Police Sgt. Steven Braddock sentenced in elderly exploitation case

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The Braddocks' latest legal problem began in February when a probation officer performed a compliance check in their New Smyrna Beach home.

The officer found a revolver in a holster in a moving box underneath the Braddocks' bar, according to testimony. They also found two magazines and 40-caliber bullets and 9mm bullets to go with the magazines. None of the bullets fit the gun. The probation officer also found a samurai sword.

Probation Officer Ayrionna Walley said Mary Braddock began to cry when she learned about the gun. She said Steven Braddock apologized to his wife.

“I overheard him constantly apologizing to Mrs. Braddock,” Walley testified.

She further described Steven Braddock’s reaction.

“It was just a blank stare. I'm sorry and I overheard him constantly apologizing to her. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’”

Steven Braddock testified under questioning by his defense attorney, Michael Politis, that the revolver was given to him by his grandfather and dated to World War I or World War II.

Braddock said the gun and ammunition had been placed in a box and forgotten. He said the sword was a duplicate prop sword from one of the main characters in "The Walking Dead" because his wife was a big fan of the show.

"Have you ever held it to use it in an offensive way or anything like that?" Politis said.

"No," Braddock replied.

Braddock said he planned to mount the sword on the wall for display purposes.

During cross examination, Assistant State Attorney Kevin Sullivan asked him about the holster found with the unloaded revolver. Braddock said it was an ankle holster to carry a gun concealed.

Sullivan also asked him about the sword.

"If you hit someone with that, would that be a weapon?" Sullivan asked.

"It could be," Steven Braddock said.

"Did the character in the show use it as a weapon?" Sullivan asked.

"She did," Steven Braddock said.

Sullivan went on to say that the character had dispatched a number of zombies with the sword.

Earlier during the trial, Zambrano checked the sword and noted that it was sharp.

The judge also looked at the revolver. Politis had said the gun was not operable because it did not have a firing pin. But Sullivan and Zambrano determined that it did have a firing pin, although it was not easy to see.

Sullivan said that even if it had not had a firing pin, it still met the definition of a firearm.

Politis said that Steven Braddock had given all his firearms to a relative before he was placed on probation and was unaware of the old revolver.

Politis noted that Steven Braddock worked in the firearms business and the conditions of probation allowed him to work with guns at his job, so he would not risk his probation by knowingly keeping a gun at home.

Politis also said that the Braddocks had complied with the terms of their probation. Those terms included paying $727,163.43 in restitution into the probate case, according to their plea hearing in December.

Under questioning by Politis, probation officers said the Braddocks had been polite and courteous.

The exploitation case

Steven Braddock was accused of forging his late father’s signature to transfer two properties worth $432,000 and owned by his parents to himself and his wife, according to a charging affidavit. Braddock also didn’t pay his late mother’s bills at Grace Manor nursing home where she was being cared for for dementia, leading to her eviction, according to the affidavit.

Braddock and his wife were also accused of transferring $258,000 from his parents’ account into their own, the affidavit stated. The New Smyrna Beach couple was accused of using that money plus the money from the sale of their parents’ house to help build a “one-of-kind” barn home, the affidavit stated.

Braddock had spent 23 years with the Port Orange Police Department, retiring as a sergeant in December 2018, which was one month after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began its investigation into the case.

The Braddocks in October originally entered no contest pleas to an exploitation charge that was a first-degree felony because it involved $50,000 or more. But Sullivan agreed to let them plead to a lesser second-degree felony exploitation charge involving less than $50,000 at the hearing.

Politis said neither of the Braddocks had a prior criminal record and they didn't have any criminal intent in this case. Politis said it had been a case of sloppy bookkeeping.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Former Port Orange police sergeant jailed for violating probation