Then-Police Chief Ron Pagano is shown at far left during the 2012 New Smyrna Beach Christmas Parade. Then-Police Chief George Markert is shown with former Acting Police Chief and then-Lt. Michael Brouillette in early 2013 at a City Commission meeting. Acting Police Chief Donna Lavallee is shown in early 2014.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The first to be gone was New Smyrna Beach Police Chief Ronald Pagano. He retired only after his contract was re-worked, giving him an extra $60,000-plus he otherwise wouldn't have been entitled to, after city officials learned of 940 items missing or stolen from the NSBPD under his watch. Next to be shown the door was Lt. Michael Brouillette, the acting chief, who "retired" April 30 of this year after signing a document that prevents him and the city from suing one another. Police Chief George Markert "resigned" earlier this month after a little more than a year on the job, at least that's what was stated in a press release, though Headline Surfer® was told otherwise. And finally there's Markert's successor, whose 30-year secret will be unveiled in the award-winning internet newspaper's upcoming investigative reports: "Show Me the Money New Smyrna Beach: Top Cops.