TITUSVILLE, Fla. – A year after $16,000 was stolen from Bryan Thomas, the disabled veteran still doesn't have his money back, but Titusville police have agreed to reopen the case after it was closed in error.
There's another big thing disrupting his peace of mind - the way police handled the case.
"They dropped the ball," Thomas said, referring to the investigation in October last year.
When it happened, Thomas had just cashed a $16,000 workman's compensation check in Orlando. He put the cash in his pickup truck and drove to Titusville to buy lawnmowers for his new business.
Thomas said it was only a few minutes that he left his locked truck before he returned to grab the money and found it was gone.
"Like normal, just open my door handle, open my console and the money's gone. That just ripped me apart," Thomas said.
He called Titusville police and said it took an officer an hour to get there.
"My wife actually beat the police and this in Titusville," Thomas said. "My wife works in Cape Canaveral."
Thomas said his dissatisfaction with the investigation only mounted from there. This month, he learned police closed the investigation back in April without telling him.
Titusville police told Thomas and his wife investigators did not always follow protocol, according to an email police sent to Thomas' wife.
"We strive to treat everyone's case with the utmost importance and priority, but inevitably as people are human they do make mistakes," Lt. Chris DeLoach wrote, adding "it will be documented and handled accordingly."
While Thomas still waits for answers, police said the case is open again. Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for any new developments.