Office of the State Attorney

State Attorney Investigator honored as a 2023 Volusia County Officer of the Year nominee

 

Congratulations to State Attorney Investigator Diego Besse, a 2023 Volusia County Officer of the Year nominee! Besse was honored Thursday night during Crime Stoppers Of Northeast Florida's annual award banquet at Daytona International Speedway.

Several of our investigators attended in support. Assistant State Attorneys Spencer Hathaway and Sarah Thomas, also the Crime Stoppers President and a board member respectively, presented Besse with his award.

Last year, Investigator Besse was assigned to more than 450 cases. One of those cases appeared to be a routine and isolated stolen identity case involving the purchase of a new car from a local auto dealer. However, he uncovered a multi-state criminal operation and brought to justice a defendant who stole from vulnerable victims and disabled veterans.

Although some crimes were determined to be out of Investigator Besse’s jurisdiction, he worked in conjunction with many agencies such as the FBI, US Department of Defense, ATF, Veteran Affairs, IRS and multiple city and state law enforcement agencies.

Investigator Besse continues to work the case, having identified numerous victims in multiple states. So far, he has executed more than 10 search warrants and obtained more than 30 court orders and subpoenas. As a result of Investigator Besse’s tireless efforts, an arrest was made, property was recovered and this criminal operation was shut down. The defendant of this operation is currently incarcerated and is facing 20 felony charges, which exposes him to more than 100 years in prison.

Investigator Besse went above and beyond the constraints of the original case and brought relief and restitution to many victims. His efforts also prevented countless others from going through the economic and emotional trauma inflicted on the victims of this defendant.

 

For more information contact: 

Haley Harrison | Multimedia Specialist/PIO | Office of State Attorney R.J. Larizza, Florida's Seventh Judicial Circuit | SAOPIO@SAO7.org