For former Broward Sheriff's Deputy Shawn Barber's 41st birthday, his wife bought him tickets to see Def Leppard at the Hard Rock Casino for $626.04.
The day of the concert -- March 29, 2008 -- the babysitter canceled.
Apparently, the best option Barber could come up with was to fill out a BSO crash report form claiming an imaginary car accident, and get his neighbor to file an insurance claim to get the $626.04 back.
A jury found Barber guilty today of filing a fraudulent insurance claim and grand theft, both of which carry maximum sentences of five years in prison.
The accident report was flagged after it was discovered that the report number Barber used on the form was already in use -- for a domestic-violence case -- and another deputy requested the file to serve an order in the case, according to a police report.
Investigators found that not only was Barber not working that day, but he'd also issued a traffic citation to his wife in his report.
Additionally, couple named in the report as being in the imaginary car crash told the cops they had no idea about any of this.
The insurance company eventually paid out the $626.04 to another woman Barber enlisted to fill help fill out the insurance claim, before she confessed to police what had really happened, the report says.
In June 2010, police executed a search warrant for Barber's handwriting, and while that was happening, the cops say he admitted numerous times to enlisting his neighbor for the insurance scheme.
Barber, who was once suspended by the BSO for an alleged tractor theft, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27.
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