Three agencies have now begun an investigation into a sheriff’s deputy who was fired from his position late last month.
Harnett County District Attorney Vernon Stewart said he is meeting with members of the State Bureau of Investigation and the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office to discuss the case of former Deputy Paul Shane Durazo.
Mr. Durazo was terminated by Sheriff Wayne Coats June 23, The Daily Record discovered after inquiring with the sheriff’s office Tuesday. Sheriff Coats said in a prepared release Wednesday he terminated Mr. Durazo after he became aware of “information concerning the activities” of the deputy. He then launched an internal investigation into the matter.
Sheriff Coats said he then shared the results of his investigation with Mr. Stewart.
The two leaders decided at that point to seek the assistance of the SBI.
“We concluded based on the internal investigation that we would ask for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation to determine if any criminal activity has occurred,” Sheriff Coats said.
There are no criminal charges against Mr. Durazo at the current time. Sheriff Coats said he cannot comment further because the investigation is pending.
A reader of The Daily Record’s Facebook site, a business owner in Anderson Creek, posted about Mr. Durazo that, “He was doing illegal stuff and his neighbor had him on film.”
The Daily Record has been told by another source that there is a video.
Sheriff Coats did not answer questions about a video or alleged wrongdoing, citing the pending investigation.
The reader said the video was confiscated by the sheriff’s office as evidence. He said the neighbor who took the video is represented by Lillington attorney Jesse Jones.
Mr. Jones is one of the lawyers for the family of John Livingston. Mr. Livingston was shot and killed by former Harnett County Deputy Nicholas Kehagias in November of last year. The deputy was not indicted by a grand jury and has since resigned.
Mr. Jones did not return phone calls as of press time. Courtesy The Daily Record
