Officer deactivated her body-cam while stealing

A West Palm Beach police officer accused of stealing cash from a suspect and turning off her body camera while she did it bonded out of jail Thursday evening.

Nicole Palladino surrendered at the Palm Beach County jail and was booked at 3:24 p.m. on charges of grand theft, drug possession and making a false report, records show.

The 30-year-old cop is accused of stealing more than $1,000 in crumpled bills and stashing it in her department-issued SUV. While searching a duffel bag in the rear cargo, investigators found seven white Ecstasy tablets, according to a police report.

The accusations stem from an incident on Oct. 7. Palladino has been on unpaid leave since, said Sgt. David Lefont, a spokesman for the West Palm Beach Police Department. She has been with the agency since January 2013.

“Based on the findings of this investigation, sufficient evidence exists to prove Nicole Paladino, while serving as a West Palm Beach police officer, removed $1,003 from [the suspect’s] property after deactivating her body camera in an attempt to conceal her actions,” Officer Adam Myers wrote in an arrest report.

It was 6:19 a.m. and Palladino had been called to Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and Interstate 95 because a man was asleep at the wheel while stopped at a red light, police said.

A search of Timothy Saintil’s car produced marijuana, Ecstasy pills, heroin, a loaded .380-caliber handgun and cash, lots of it in $100 and $1 bills, according to a police report. Palladino handcuffed Saintil while a back-up officer put the uncounted money in a clear plastic prisoner’s property bag, the report said.

Palladino took Saintil to police headquarters. While there, Saintil saw that his property bag said it contained $48. He made a loud fuss about it, insisting he had at least $900 or $1,000, according to the report.

When officers searched Palladino’s 2017 Ford Explorer they found bills stashed between the passenger’s seat and center console as well as in a pouch on an organizer hanging from the passenger’s seat. When they went through Palladino’s personal belongings in the back of the SUV they found seven white tablets of Ecstasy, an arrest report said.

“It should be noted, these pills differed in shape and color from the MDMA located in Saintil’s possession,” Myers wrote.

Review of Palladino’s body camera footage showed her “manipulating a clear plastic bag which contains money” and then the recording stops at 7:45:36. When it begins again at 7:45:39, Palladino “is seen and heard counting 48 one dollar bills,” her arrest report said.

A closer look showed the recording had intentionally been shut off and then on again, police said.

Palladino spent a little more than two hours in jail Thursday. She was released at 5:38 p.m. after posting $15,000 bond, records show.