Martin County narcotics detective resigns over sexual assault allegations

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MARTIN COUNTY, Fla – A Martin County narcotics detective has resigned following a criminal investigation into sexual assault charges.

The state attorney’s office decided not to press charges, but Sheriff William Snyder said his agency had had to drop several dozen drug investigations.

“That this is happening under my watch is extremely embarrassing. I am extremely saddened by it,” Snyder said.

Snyder said one of his narcotics detectives, Michael Oliver, resigned from the sheriff’s office after nearly 10 years with the agency.

“His overall ratings have always been good, which is why it’s so inexplicable,” Snyder said.

Snyder said she received a call in June from the boyfriend of a confidential informant who claimed that Oliver sexually assaulted the informant, although she was initially unwilling to report it.

Snyder said he asked neighboring St. Lucia County to investigate.

Documents show detectives said the woman told detectives Oliver texted her early one morning in late April, saying he wanted to come talk to her.

She thought she might be in legal trouble because she was already working on criminal charges by being an informant.

Documents indicate that Oliver looked around the house with his children there, then asked to show her something outside her truck, where she claimed he sexually assaulted her, and that ‘she even honked her horn to get her children’s attention and stop the alleged assault.

Documents said Oliver deleted the text and phone recordings from that night and lied to detectives that she was at home. GPS records tracked him there.

St. Lucia County wanted to arrest Oliver, but the state attorney’s office refused a warrant, claiming in part that due to the informant’s criminal record on seven occasions, an abundance of evidence was needed.

The state prosecutor said there was no DNA evidence, no evidence of sexual violence, no video evidence or a confession.

“When he resigned we had nothing left to do, we could not have investigated,” Snyder said.

Snyder said Oliver having resigned, the sheriff’s office cannot conduct an internal investigation.

Snyder said it was likely Oliver would have been fired for being alone with a confidential informant, in violation of policy.

“One of the rules is that they never, ever have contact with an informant on their own. They never have contact without a supervisor knowing about it. It’s a very, very relationship. precarious and it’s a relationship we have to be careful with to make sure there is no chance of an allegation without at least one witness there, ”Snyder said.

Snyder also said he worked with the state attorney’s office to review Oliver’s investigations, deciding to drop around 40 drug cases where Oliver was a senior detective and his word and integrity were key.

“The cases we dropped were serious cases. They were felony cases. We don’t like to do that. We don’t want dangerous drugs on our streets,” Snyder said.

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