An Oakland police sergeant is accused of $38,000 in wage theft after a timecard audit found “irregularities,” authorities announced Friday.
Kevin Arias was charged Friday with a single felony count of grand theft of personal property after investigators claim he logged hours that he never worked for the department, court records show. Alameda County prosecutors claim the issue persisted from Oct. 5, 2023 through Jan. 3 of this year.
Arias — who started working for the department in 2005 — is currently a sergeant, though he has on occasion been an acting lieutenant, authorities said.
He earned $163,628 in base bay in 2024, along with $64,484 in overtime pay and $38,342 in “other pay,” according to the most recent data available from the website Transparent California. He also received another $157,475 in benefits that year.
The Oakland Police Department first discovered “irregularities” during an internal audit of the agency’s time cards, officials said in an press release. Arias was was initially placed on “modified assignment” when the issue was initially discovered, after which he was moved to administrative leave, the release said.
In its announcement, the department claimed Friday it had already upped the frequency of its timecard audits, and that the agency is “collaborating with the city to implement improved technology for better tracking and to reduce the risk of future misconduct.” It did not provide any details of how it was going about that work.
Bay Area News Group staff writer Harry Harris contributed to this report.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.