Former LCSO deputy accessed personal info via database

A now-departed Lee County sheriff's deputy accessed dozens of women's personal information using a database used by the agency.

Steven Coles used the driver and vehicle information database (known as DAVID) to access the information of at least 20 women, including NBC-2 anchor Kellie Burns.

He also searched for all women named Ashley between the ages 21-24 in Lee County, according to the report released Friday.

Coles has since resigned, according to the sheriff's office. He had two previous substantiated internal investigation cases over the previous five years.

An investigation was launched in April after personnel working for WBBH-TV in Fort Myers requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to see if any of their information had been accessed using the database, according to the report.

Burns is named as a witness in the report and was interviewed by investigators, according to the report.

What started as a records request into use of the database, which anyone can ask for, turned into the internal investigation, Burns said.

"It's all a little creepy," Burns said. A similar situation happened to Burns with another agency, she said, and that officer was fired. "I mostly felt bad," she said.

Burns said she was surprised when she learned someone had been accessing her information, but doesn't believe anyone was trying to do her any harm.

"I have no idea," she said when asked why someone would look up her information.

All people interviewed, including 21 current or former members of the sheriff's office, said they had no interaction with Coles during which he would need to access their information, according to the report. Nineteen of those 21 named in the report were female.

A review of Coles' activity at 4 a.m. on Jan. 21, 2011, showed he searched Burns' name, as well as "several" sheriff's employees, according to the report.

He also searched for all white females named Ashley between the ages of 21-24 living in Lee County and spent two and a half hours combing through those records, according to the report.

"There are no apparent calls for service that would suggest this search was within the scope of his duties," the report reads. "Deputy Coles could not recall the reason why he conducted this search."

Cole looked up his fiancee's information at her request six times, according to the report. He also looked up her ex-husband's information seven times, because there was concern he was driving after being involved in a DUI.

He admitted to accessing their information for personal reasons, according to the report.

Coles was suspended for three days in 2013 for conduct unbecoming of an officer/member, according to the report. In 2010, he was suspended for two weeks, placed on six months' probation and completed a four-hour online ethics course for the same charge.

Deputy in D.R., not at Dr.

A second deputy resigned after an internal investigation report.

The report shows Deputy Jessica Shamlall claimed she had a doctor's appointment when she was actually in the Dominican Republic.

On May 16, Shamlall called the agency and said she had a doctor's appointment in Tampa, according to the report. But the sergeant who took the call noticed the area code from the call was unfamiliar, looked it up and found it was from the Dominican Republic.

Iit was confirmed Shamlall had left the country on May 12 on a plane bound for Punta Cana. She returned on May 17 to Fort Lauderdale, according to the report.

When asked to provide a doctor's note confirming her appointment in Tampa, Shamlall would not.