Maricopa County Sheriffs Office

Joe Arpaio, Sheriff News Brief

Thursday March 8, 2012 (Phoenix, AZ) Maricopa County Sheriffs Deputy Torrey McRae was arrested today as the result of an internal probe conducted by the sheriffs office which was initiated in January of this year. The investigation began when the McRaes supervisor noticed discrepancies in the use of authorized money transfers for the purpose of conducting narcotics investigations. Deputy McRae was assigned as a detective in the special investigations unit at the time. McRae was arrested and booked on two counts of violation of a custodian of public monies (a class four felony), two counts of forgery (a class four felony), and one count of theft (a class three felony). Detectives determined during their investigation that McRae failed to account for over $5,000 of money transfers and later attempted to repay the amount without detection. Deputy McRae was hired as a deputy sheriff in 2007 and had previous experience as a police officer in Chicago. Sheriff Joe Arpaio stated, It is always difficult to accept the fact that a very small number of law enforcement officers sometimes engage in this type of activity. I am proud of the job that my office has done in detecting this situation and taking immediate action. Just prior to his arrest today by sheriffs deputies, McRae resigned his position as a deputy sheriff. End