WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A 20-year employee of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is accused of helping her boyfriend who was arrested for a felony.
According to the Internal Affairs investigation, there was a domestic disturbance in Mangonia Park on the morning of July 16, 2021.
Deputies at the scene met with several people there, including a man named Kebarr Miller, 34, who the IA report said, “was on the phone with a woman he referred to as his girlfriend throughout the course of the investigation, which was later determined to be Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office communications officer (CO) Sharnette Pettigrew.”
It continued, “Shortly after, CO Pedigree arrived at the scene of the investigation and spoke with [two deputies] and Mr. Miller, thought her name was omitted from the report [on that incident]. [The lead deputy] determined through his investigation that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Miller for burglary with an assault or battery,” so he was arrested and taken to the Main Detention Center (MDC).
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The arrest report from the incident said Miller went inside the home of his son’s mother — and the boy’s grandparents — and a deputy arrived to see the grandfather "still on the phone with 911" and hear that “a man ran inside his house and wouldn’t get out.”
The report said his ex told the deputy, “she came out to the mailbox and saw [Miller] approach in a car and then saw him jump out of the his car and charge at her. [She] told me that she knows him to carry a gun so she got scared and ran towards her house. [She] told me that she entered the side door and [he] chased after her. [She] said she didn't know what [he] would do to her and that's the reason she ran inside.”
The deputy wrote the grandmother told him her daughter “opened the door with a look of fear on her face. [She] told me [her daughter] rushed past her and fell on the floor and then saw [Miller] approaching the door. [She] told me she is also afraid of [him] and didn't know what he would do so she tried to close and lock the door. [She] told me she attempted to shut the door but [he] grabbed the door by the outside doorknob and prevented her from closing the door. [She] told me she struggled with him to shut the door and she attempted to activate the deadbolt but she could not. [She] said [he] forced the door open and pushed her out if the way to get inside her house without her permission.”
The deputy wrote he “took a look at the deadbolt and door jamb and noticed that there was some fresh damage to the paint inside the door jamb and also to the wood frame adjacent to the deadbolt hole.”
Also, “The only arrangement [Miller] has with [his son’s mother] is to meet at a nearby McDonald's for the child exchange.”
Miller’s name was blocked out of the narrative every time he was mentioned. The names of the three witnesses were not blocked out.
Burglary to an occupied dwelling with an assault or battery is a first-degree felony.
Five days later, on July 21, a sergeant reviewed the report from that incident and “noted CO Pettigrew had a relationship with Mr. Miller who was arrested for a felony charge and who may be involved in other serious crimes.”
Internal Affairs was assigned to investigate it further.
The investigator wrote, “I reviewed the in-car video from [the deputy]’s vehicle, which was recording while he investigated the case. I observed CO Pettigrew on scene interacting with Mr. Miller before and after he was arrested. While Mr. Miller was in custody in the rear of [the deputy]’s patrol vehicle, he spoke with CO Pedigree, asked her to call his mother, and referred to her by her first name. Another unknown female can be heard off-camera stating CO Pettigrew worked for PBSO.”
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The IA investigator then reviewed the PBSO online booking blotter. That’s where he “noticed Mr. Miller's date of birth, address, and photograph were redacted. It noted Mr. Miller was booked on July 16, 2021, at 13:11 hours and released on a surety bond on July 17, 2021, at 21:10 hours. The charge listed was consistent with the arrest documents.”
CBS12 News was able to get Miller's mugshot through a public records request.
But, while being held in jail, “Mr. Miller filed a request for confidentiality of his personal information.” Florida law entitles employees and former employees of law enforcement agencies to keep personal information “confidential and exempt” from public records disclosure.
He got what he wanted.
“Mr. Miller attested in the request form that he was the spouse of a current PBSO employee. Mr. Miller signed the form dated July 16, 2021,” the report said. “Upon receipt of the request form, the booking sergeant sent an email to [various departments] stating, ‘Inmate Kebarr Miller is the spouse of Communications Officer Sharnette Pettigrew. Inmate Miller is booked for Burglary with Assault or Battery, and Burglary to an occupied dwelling with assault and battery. Inmate Miller's booking photo and address were blocked from the booking blotter. Inmate Miller is in cell #4 waiting to be processed.’”
Then, the investigator looked at the Certificate of Bond Discharge which showed South City Bail Bonds paid Miller’s $10,000 bond.
Miller got more good news.
On July 26th, an assistant state attorney decided, “Although there was probable cause to make an arrest, the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution. Additionally, attempt to contact the victim have been unsuccessful [sic].”
But the next day, the investigator searched the inmate telephone monitoring system for Pettigrew’s phone number and “discovered eleven out-going phone calls to her number, totaling 126 minutes, from July 16, 2021, when Mr. Miller was booked into the MDC, and July 17, 2021, when he was released.”
He listed some of what was said.
The first call took place 26 minutes after Miller was booked. “Mr. Miller immediately asked CO Pettigrew what her PBSO identification number was and she provided it to him. They talked about his criminal charge of burglary with an assault and CO Pettigrew stated she would get a bondsman.”
The investigator wrote that in other conversations, “CO Pettigrew and Mr. Miller spoke repeatedly about how CO Pettigrew hired South Bail Bond, completed the application, and paid the $1,000 bond for Mr. Miller. They spoke about his criminal charge multiple times and acknowledged it was a first degree felony. Mr. Miller told CO Pettigrew he told the booking deputy her identification number. CO Pettigrew eluded [sic] to Mr. Miller having ‘a nice setup’ and ‘being taken care of and monitored’ because of her employment with PBSO. She also stated she asked to have his picture and address removed from the booking blotter. Throughout the conversations, CO Pettigrew referred to Mr. Miller as ‘baby,’ ‘my baby Kebarr,’ and closed one of the conversations by saying, ‘I love you.’”
Then, onto a different subject.
“On July 16, during a conversation that started at approximately 14:33 hours, CO Pettigrew told Mr. Miller she stayed home from work to have her locks changed.”
Furthermore, from the investigator, “On July 29, 2021, I requested a Transaction Archive Report to determine if CO Pettigrew ran Mr. Miller's name dating back two years. Between December 29, 2019, and June 18, 2021, CO Pettigrew ran Mr. Miller's name eleven times for unknown reasons.”
First, the investigator looked into the time off. “On August 20, 2021, I requested leave request forms for CO Pettigrew for July 16 and 17, 2021.”
On July 16, the day of the arrest, she called out sick for eight hours. “The remarks for the absence read ‘F/C’ which is an abbreviation for ‘family care.’”
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On July 17, Pettigrew called out for four hours and, “The remarks for the absence again read ‘F/C.’”
As for Miller, the investigator wrote, “I reviewed Mr. Miller's criminal history which dated back to May 21, 2007. Since that date, Mr. Miller was charged with six felony charges and four misdemeanor charges, but he was not convicted in any of the cases.”
He also reported reviewing an offense report in which “Mr. Miller was listed as a possible suspect in a shooting that occurred on April 4, 2021. [A detective] concluded there was insufficient evidence to support Mr. Miller as a suspect in the case, and the case was inactive pending further investigative leads.”
Six people were interviewed in the investigation. This is the information not referenced above.
The sergeant who looked at the arrest report said he spoke with the deputy, and the deputy “told him CO Pettigrew came to the scene during the investigation.” So, “He completed a PBSO Citizen Complaint Report because he believed he was the first supervisor to become aware of the incident,” according to the Internal Affairs report.
Another sergeant, who worked as the intake sergeant at the jail on that day remembered Miller being booked, and “Mr. Miller stated he was married to CO Pettigrew and filed a request for confidentiality of his personal information. [This sergeant] stated this would block the personal information from being entered into the booking blotter because he was related to or married to a PBSO employee.” He wrote that he confirmed Pettigrew was an employee and spoke with a communication supervisor who told him Miller was Pettigrew’s spouse.
The deputy at the scene wrote in a sworn statement that a woman who turned out to be Pettigrew said she was Miller’s girlfriend. “She stated she worked for PBSO and showed him her PBSO identification card. She did not want to provide her information, to include her address, because she told [him] that Mr. Miller lived at her house. [The deputy] later found out from [another deputy], the female was CO Pettigrew. [He] did not put CO Pettigrew’s name and personal information in the report because CO Pettigrew asked him not to. [He] did not recall if [He] did not put CO Pettigrew’s name and personal information in the report because CO Pettigrew asked him not to. [He] did not recall if CO Pettigrew spoke with the victim or any witnesses while unseen during his investigation.”
The report said another deputy at the scene “stated Mr. Miller was on the phone with a woman he called his girlfriend. The woman later arrived on scene and stated she was the girlfriend of Mr. Miller. As she walked up, [this deputy] attempted to run her license plate, but she told him not to. She then produced her PBSO identification and stated she worked in communications. [This deputy] identified her at that point as CO Pettigrew. [He] told CO Pettigrew the charges against Mr. Miller. He recalled CO Pettigrew telling him she and Mr. Miller were in a long-term relationship for multiple years. He did not recall if CO Pettigrew spoke with the victim, or any witnesses while on scene during the investigation.”
And a communications supervisor verified on July 16, CO Pettigrew was scheduled to work 14 hours. Instead, she used four hours of comp time and “called out sick [for the other 10 hours] to care for a family member who was ill.”
On July 17th, CO Pettigrew was scheduled to work four hours. Instead, she sent this communication supervisor “a text message prior to her shift to ask permission to use sick time again to care for a family member who was ill.”
Plus, the communications supervisor said, “Pettigrew has access to multiple databases to run an individual's criminal and driving records. The use of these databases is strictly for business purposes only.”
Finally, Sharnette Pettigrew was interviewed. She’d been a communications officer with PBSO for 20 years. Pettigrew said Miller has been her boyfriend for three-and-a-half years and they live together in her home.
“On the morning of July 16, 2021, Mr. Miller called her on the phone and asked her to come to [the address] in Mangonia Park, FL, because of a child custody issue with his ex-wife,” the report summarized what Pettigrew said. “When she arrived on scene at approximately 10:00 hours, she immediately identified herself as a PBSO employee to [the second deputy]. She did not speak with anyone on scene and she removed herself from an area when a witnessed attempted to speak with her.”
As for calling out, “CO Pettigrew was scheduled to work that day but she called in sick to care for her son. She did not notify her supervisor when she left to meet with Mr. Miller during the criminal investigation.”
At the jail, “CO Pettigrew stated she was not aware of the exact charges against Mr. Miller until she spoke with him on the phone after he was booked into the MDC. CO Pettigrew did not notify a supervisor when she learned the charge against Mr. Miller was a felony.”
About their relationship, “Shortly after Mr. Miller was booked into the MDC, CO Pettigrew received a phone call from [a different supervisor] who asked if Mr. Miller was her spouse. CO Pettigrew responded that Mr. Miller was her ‘other half.’ I asked if she and Mr. Miller were legally married and she stated they were not.”
From the phone calls, “She recalled the conversation on July 16, 2021, when she stated to Mr. Miller she stayed home from work that day to have her locks changed. CO Pettigrew stated she stayed home from work to deal with an issue with her son and changing the locks was part of that issue. CO Pettigrew acknowledged she secured the bond for Mr. Miller as they discussed numerous times in the recorded phone calls.”
And after her research, “CO Pettigrew viewed and understood the Transaction Archive Report regarding running Mr. Miller's name. She admitted she was wrong and had no legitimate business purpose and running his name eleven times.”
The summary put the pieces of July 16 together, saying, “CO Pettigrew was also on scene of the criminal investigation during her shift hours while out on sick leave.”
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At the end, there were five findings decided.
“A preponderance of evidence does not exist” to support she violated a rule on recommending attorneys or bail bondsmen. “Although CO Pettigrew stated she paid for the bond for Mr. Miller, it could not be determined if she specifically recommended South Bail Bond.”
“A preponderance of evidence does not exist” to support she violated a rule on misdirected action or interfering with official investigations. “[The two deputies at the scene] both stated in their sworn interviews that CO Pettigrew actions on scene did not interfere or impede their ability to conduct their investigation.”
“A preponderance of evidence does exist” to support she violated a rule on association with criminals, as she had a long-term relationship with Mr. Miller, who was arrested and incarcerated for a felony offense, and she did not report through the chain-of-command to the Sheriff her contact and relationship with Mr. Miller.”
“A preponderance of evidence does exist” to support she violated a rule on laws, policies or rules and regulations, “as she ran Mr. Miller's name eleven times in [the computer] without a legitimate business purpose.”
“A preponderance of evidence does exist” to support she violated a rule on misuse of sick benefits. “CO Pettigrew was approved to use accrued sick time to care for an ill family member. During her scheduled work hours, she left to go to the scene of the criminal investigation involving Mr. Miller and did not notify her supervisor she left for that purpose.”
In December, Communications officer Sharnette Pettigrew was suspended from her job for a week.
