14 days and Sanzone still has his badge

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

Former Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy John Sanzone still has his badge.

Sanzone was a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy from December of 2021 to September of 2022.

According to the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office, while Sanzone was on duty, he encountered a homeless man and arrested him. During the booking procedure, the homeless man had $3,500 in cash on his person, which he was saving to pay for badly needed dental work.

Sanzone stole the money, says the D.A.

When the man tried to recover his money upon his release from custody, Sanzone ran interference with the evidence custodian and sheriff’s administration to keep the theft from being discovered by superiors. Sanzone went so far as to drive the homeless man to another county.

At some point after charges were filed against Sanzone, he repaid the $3,500. The district attorney also claimed that Sanzone surrendered his peace officer certification, which would mean that Sanzone is banned from ever again being a peace officer in California.

In exchange, the felony theft charges against Sanzone were dismissed.

One little problem: There is absolutely no evidence that Sanzone ever surrendered his peace officer certification.

On Thursday, May 22, The Observer called the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Dwayne Stewart said that he had been at a training event and just got back. He said his office is playing catch-up, and that he has the paperwork and just needs to sign it and send it off.

Apparently, nothing has happened.

The State of California (the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST) keeps records of every law enforcement officer in the state whose peace officer certification has been revoked – voluntarily or involuntarily, temporarily or permanently.

A list of former law enforcement officers who have been decertified is found on the POST website (see https://post.ca.gov/Peace-Officer-Certification-Actions). As of Friday, May 30, Sanzone’s name is still not on the list.

The telephone number for the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office is 530-934-6525.