ST. PETERSBURG, FL — An officer who shared confidential information with a suspect accused of planting explosives at a Tampa casino was found guilty of department violations, the St. Petersburg Police Department said in a news release.
Brandon Klaiber was arrested on two counts of offenses against intellectual property, a third-degree felony on April 15.
Klaiber, who was sworn in as an officer in November 2008, resigned from the department on Monday.
The department’s Command Review Board reviewed his case and determined that if he hadn’t resigned, he would have been fired, SPD said.
He was found guilty of two department violations, police said.
In late 2024, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified St. Petersburg police about potential criminal violations by Klaiber, who they accused of sharing protected information from law enforcement information with Bryan Eckley, a suspect accused of planting explosive devices at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa in September of that year, police said.
Eckley was arrested in October 2024.
Investigators found text messages between Klaiber and Eckley in which the officer provided information from restricted databases when the suspect asked for it.
Months ahead of his arrest, Klaiber was placed on administrative leave on Dec. 2, 2024, at the start of the police investigation into him, and his credentials and computer access were suspended.