Guard accused of faking deployment to get year long vacation
Oct 2, 2012, 1:25 PM | Updated: 3:34 pm
Detention Officer Jose Abarca allegedly submitted forged deployment orders to get a year long paid vacation. (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
A King County corrections officer is out of a job after taking a year-long paid vacation that his bosses knew nothing about. Jose Abarca collected more than $110,000 in pay while he was allegedly sitting at home.
“My honest impression was that he was a good employee and a good officer,” says Commander William Hayes.
Hayes supervised Abarca at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. Abarca was hired in November of 2001. Hayes says the officer was also enlisted in the Washington National Guard.
Abarca allegedly turned in fraudulent paperwork indicating he would be deployed to Germany for one year starting in February of 2010. The real orders were for one month of National Guard training, according to a probable cause statement.
“I believe this is an anomaly. I don’t believe this is the norm. He obviously made some very poor choices. I don’t know how else to explain it,” says Hayes.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office says Abarca also requested days off for several week-long training sessions with the National Guard in 2011 and 2012, even though he did not attend the drills.
Abarca is charged with first degree theft and forgery. He resigned from the justice center in July, after being on paid administrative leave for five months.
