Lee County Sheriff accuses deputy of leaking insider information to street racers

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:
Giray Uzen, 18. Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office

Giray Uzen, an 18-year-old correctional deputy, was fired and is in the Collier County Jail after an internal investigation found he leaked information to street racing groups.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said that Uzen took pictures of confidential information on computer monitors, then sent those pictures via Snapchat to street racers being investigated by LCSO. Detectives said the Snapchat photo was an exact match to one of its programs that stores sensitive information.

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Marceno said it was Uzen’s way to warn the street racing groups. Detectives traced the alleged crime back to Uzen by going over video recordings and log in information.

This comes after the Lee County Sheriff’s Office announced a change to its pursuit change in March to crack down on street racers. Deputies can more easily utilize helicopters, drones, stop sticks, and barricades when in a pursuit. The Sheriff also tripled the number of deputies from 12 to 36, on the task force to combat the car clubs.

Uzen was due in Collier County Court for his first appearance at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, but did not go due to a medical refusal.

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