EXCLUSIVE: Hendry County Sheriff's Office responds to lack of info about raids

LABELLE, Fla — It’s a story you’ll only see on Fox 4. Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski spoke execlusively with the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office after Clewiston’s vice mayor called out the lack of updates from the sheriff on the raids of two government buildings last year.

Schargorodski has been covering this story every step of the way, and because of his connections, he was the only reporter to sit down with the sheriff’s office spokesperson to talk about where things stand.

The controversy stems from two raids last year at City Hall and the Community Development Building. Schargorodski got the front pages of the search warrants. They said a judge found probable cause to believe there was official misconduct and bid tampering, but they didn’t go beyond that.

Vice Mayor Hillary Hyslope spoke out on Wednesday. She said they have not received any substantive information from law enforcement since the raids.

She said, “At this point the lack of clarity and transparency is understandably creating concern and frustration within our community.”

Schargorodski took that statement to the sheriff’s office for a response.

“We understand they’re looking for answers. They want resolve. They want information, as do the residents of the city,” said Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Captain Susan Harrelle. “The most important thing I want them to know is that we are doing our best to bring this to a conclusion. We’re not trying to hide anything. We’re not trying to keep anything from city leaders. An investigation like this... we just can’t share everything.”

Back in November, the sheriff’s office said, “Detectives are working to close this case in the upcoming weeks.”

But now, almost three months later, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is still ongoing.

Harrelle said the type of evidence is a factor. She said investigators took cellphones, laptops, and thousands of documents from both buildings.

“Sometimes we have to reach out to other organizations to extract that info, because we don’t have that tech. At smaller agencies, we just don’t. Then they have to review thousands of documents. Again, that takes time. And while all that’s going on, we still have other crimes to investigate,” said Harrelle.

Schargorodski also asked Roly Gonzalez, who lives in Clewiston, about the investigation. Gonzalez said he is OK with the delays.

“I think once we have all the findings, then we should go ahead and put it out there,” Gonzalez said. “But being premature? Definitely not.”

As the investigation continues and sealed warrants remain undisclosed, Schargorodski will keep pushing for answers and will let the public know when he gets them.