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Letter: OC Sheriff's Helicopter Supervisor Took Girlfriend on Joyride in the Sky

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Photo by LA Michele via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

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The Orange County Sheriff's Department is looking into whether one of its employees took his girlfriend on a joyride in the department's helicopters.

The internal investigation was sparked by angry anonymous letter complaining that the sheriff's department shouldn't be letting its employees take a joyride at taxpayers' expense, according to CBS Los Angeles. A ride in a helicopter can cost the county $1,000 an hour (not to mention helicopters can be obnoxious.)

"Please look into this matter to prevent any further waste of taxpayers’ money," said the letter, which was sent to the board of supervisors. "We should not be funding joyrides in a Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter."

Neither the typewritten letter nor any news reports mention the supervisor being investigated — or any evidence this letter is a joke. “If it’s true, then we deal with it, if it’s not, it’s malicious and we bit on a prank,” Supervisor John Moorlach told CBS LA.

There have been rumors like this in the past, according to the Orange County Register. Once an assistant sheriff had a helicopter retrieve his wife’s purse, and former Sheriff Mike Carona was rumored to have used the helicopters for romantic trysts.

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