BARRY COUNTY, Mich. (March 13, 2014) — Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf spoke with FOX 17 following a raid of his department by the FBI. The search and seizure took place Wednesday.
“We’re not making any comment on anything like that. All I can tell you is that I’m OK, my undersheriff is OK, the office here is OK, and we are working in conjunction with those federal agencies to handle an older case,” Leaf said.
The FBI tells FOX 17 that it is assisting the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General. The FBI seized computers from the sheriff’s department Wednesday morning.
Leaf would not elaborate on the matter.
“[The feds are] very strict on what they’ll allow out,” he said.
Citizens around the county are curious about what went down Wednesday and what’s to come. FOX 17 spoke with residents in Hastings.
“Something like that doesn’t happen everyday in a small town. But it definitely makes me question what the police are doing,” resident Elizabeth Shilton said.
It’s the talk of the town and causing concerned citizens to question their government.
“[I’m] a little surprised but not surprised,” resident Matt Meek said.
Residents of all ages have numerous theories about what the search pertained to, however, they all believe it leads to corruption.
“I think it could be, because when big brother, a bigger brother, comes and wants to check out your files and spotlights it, I would definitely think that there’s a concern there for the community of something possibly deeper going on in this community that we don’t know about,” Meek said.
An FBI spokesperson said the search warrant has been ordered sealed. A timeline was not offered as to when we might learn which older case is being investigated.
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