DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - A former Davie police officer has been charged with stealing money from a fundraising campaign that was initially supposed to help a woman whose daughter and husband had been killed while trick-or-treating.
Jeffrey Stewart faces a felony charge of grand theft.
Back in 2018, Stewart set up a charity called Random Acts of Kindness Everyday (RAKE) with his niece, Danielle.
Through his charity, Stewart established a GoFundMe page for Maria Orellana Cruz after her husband, 46-year-old Carlos Alvarado Amaya and their daughters, 5-year-old Heydi and then-2-year-old Kaylee, were hit by a car while out trick-or-treating on Halloween.
Kaylee was the only one who survived.
The page set up by Stewart raised over $32,000.
“Just to help a family with the loss of a child is hard enough, but to then to lose a husband and a child, it was something I just felt we had to do something with,” Stewart said in 2018. “We want to give any money that is left over to them to help them get through this, to help the mom to get some training to be able to get a job and to help her with her 2-year-old and her 15-year-old that she now has to raise by herself.”
However, according to an arrest warrant, of the $32,000 raised, Stewart paid $10,000 for funeral expenses and to send the bodies back to El Salvador. He then gave $13,000 to Maria Orellana Cruz.
Police said Stewart told them that he “kept the remaining balance, $9,000, in the RAKE account in case he, ‘had to pay taxes on the income.'”
Police later got involved when Stewart went to them, saying his niece, Danielle, stole the funds to pay for personal bills.
Investigators, however, determined that Stewart lied. He has since been arrested.
Stewart’s next court date is set for Nov. 9.
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