Bunnell police officers arrested

A lieutenant in the Bunnell Police Department and his wife, an officer in the same department, were arrested today and charged with several felonies, according to the office of State Attorney R.J. Larizza.

Bond of $10,000 was set for Lt. John Charles Murray, who has been with the department for eight years, who was charged with four felonies.

A bond of $5,000 was set for Cpl. Lisa Christine Murray, charged with two counts of official misconduct. She came to the department about two to 2½ years ago.

John Murray, 46, was charged with official misconduct, possession of cocaine, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and grand theft.

Lisa Murray, 41, was charged with two counts of official misconduct.

A spokesman with the State Attorney's Office (SAO) said confidential warrants were picked up Tuesday and served today.

According to an SAO release, the investigation began on March 2 in response to a request from the Bunnell Police Department.

The department asked for an investigation into a Feb. 12 incident at Payless Auto Sales in Bunnell.

The investigator who filled out the charging affidavit said Lisa Murray improperly handled a dispute over a $165 towing bill. A Payless employee called the store owner for help when the dispute got heated, according to the affidavit.

Murray allegedly threatened the man with arrest if he didn't hang up the phone. She again threatened him with arrest if he didn't pay the disputed amount to the other man, Bunnell Commissioner Jimmy Flynt, owner of Saxon's Wrecker Service.

In the second count, Murray allegedly took a small amount of marijuana and a pipe from a car she had seized. The items were not placed in evidence.

John Murray's charge of official misconduct is based on his allegedly steering towing business toward Flynt's company instead of rotating among three authorized wreckers.

The second charge was filed after a search of Murray's official SUV in May allegedly turned up 6.8 grams of crack cocaine tucked away in a green latex glove. The search also turned up five tablets of alprazolam (Xanax), an anti-anxiety narcotic, according to the SAO press release.

Murray's former girlfriend allegedly told an investigator that she was addicted to prescription medications and that he gave her pills concealed in latex gloves when they were dating.

The third charge, tampering with evidence, stems from the seizure in April 2009 of five marijuana plants found growing in the back yard of a Bunnell home.

Murray allegedly put the plants in the back of his SUV but did not turn them over to the evidence department.

The SAO filed a charge of grand theft after investigators allegedly looked in Murray's desk on April 23 and found $1,380 that had been seized in a drug arrest.

The investigations were conducted by the help of the Bunnell Police Department and the administration of the City of Bunnell, according to the SAO press release.