The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Vincent Balestrieri. He gets the award for the following.

DELRAY BEACH — When Police Chief Larry Schroeder added officer Vincent Balestrieri's name to a national prayer list of military personnel fighting in Iraq, Balestrieri was living safely in the Tampa area, working as a Lockheed Martin contractor while hauling in part of his police salary.

Balestrieri, 36, reportedly faked U.S. Navy documents that said he had been called back to active duty in January, a month after buying a $220,000 home in Riverview near the Lockheed Martin Information Technology center, where he was hired Jan. 3.

Believing the apparently phony military orders, the police department continued to pay Balestrieri the difference between his salary and his income as a U.S. Navy reservist.

The eight-month deception cost the city $8,769.87, police said.

"To find out that not only did he do it us, but he planned to do it to us... my only words to him is 'crucify him,' " Schroeder, a Marine Corps veteran, said Wednesday. "I'd like to see him rot in jail."

Balestrieri was expected to turn himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office late Wednesday, police said. He was to be charged with felony organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.

Incredible. Mr. Balestrieri is a disgrace. Many policemen serve in our reserves, and this fraud was in my mind robbing from them. Did this crook think no one would ever catch on? The article is a little vague, but it appears Balesrtieri had the chutzpah to apply for another law enforcement job! That's what tripped him up.

Go and read the entire Palm Beach Post article if you want more details. Vincent Balestrieri is today's knucklehead of the day.

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