Editor’s note: The 44-page whistleblower complaint includes a detailed timeline and allegations of misconduct within the Key West Police Department. This story summarizes those allegations, none of which has been proven in court. Because of the complaint’s length and complexity, readers are encouraged to click here to read the full document.
KEY WEST, Fla. — An off-duty Key West police officer arrested on a DUI charge Aug. 16 had submitted a 44-page whistleblower complaint three months earlier alleging misconduct, favoritism and retaliation inside the department — all the way to the top.
Officer Dustin Christina sent the May 20 complaint — obtained and reviewed by Above the Fold — to the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida attorney general and Key West City Manager Brian Barroso.
Christina is currently on paid leave pending the outcome of his DUI case, which involved several of the KWPD officers included in his complaint.
“At this point, I am not sure what I am going to do,” said Christina. “I have served or been in law enforcement most of my life, and I am just not sure that I feel safe in Key West.”
Christina served in the U.S. Army for seven years before being injured in Iraq. He was medically discharged and after stints in management and manufacturing, after losing interest he took to law enforcement just outside Kansas City, Mo.
In 2023, he moved to Key West and started working for KWPD.
The complaint presents a detailed timeline spanning nearly two years. Christina alleges department leaders retaliated after he reported possible criminal and ethical violations involving Sgt. David Kouri and other officers.
Christina’s allegations have not been proven in court. Some are based on conduct he says he witnessed, while others rely on statements attributed to officers, bartenders and other civilian witnesses.
The complaint accuses Kouri of furnishing alcohol to minors, sexually harassing women, attempting to obtain marijuana, abandoning paid assignments, misusing a patrol vehicle and interfering with internal investigations.
Christina also accuses department leaders of protecting Kouri while investigating and disciplining him for reporting the alleged misconduct.
Accusations include special treatment for celebrities, minors and drugs
Christina’s complaint alleges that on-duty Key West police officers provided special treatment resembling private security for actress Sydney Sweeney during a visit to the Keys.
The complaint said that a civilian approached Christina on May 15, 2025, and asked why officers had followed Sweeney throughout the night. The civilian showed him a photograph of Officer Corey Vanderhoof standing near the actress, according to the complaint.
When Christina questioned Vanderhoof, the officer said he had been ordered to remain with Sweeney’s group, the complaint alleges.
“Yeah, I had to stand near them all night,” Christina quoted Vanderhoof as saying. “I received a direct order to be with them all night.”
The complaint does not identify who allegedly issued the order or whether the assignment had an official law-enforcement purpose. Christina characterized it as a possible misuse of city money and police authority.
Christina also included a secondhand allegation that Sgt. Kouri left his assigned post and used a marked patrol vehicle to take Sweeney to her residence on Summerland Key, outside the Key West city limits.
Christina did not claim to have witnessed the alleged trip. He wrote that Officer Russell Holmes received the information from Officer Eliot Sharp and later relayed it to him.
In a separate allegation, Christina wrote that a Rick’s Bar employee told him Kouri entered the establishment with Sweeney, went behind the bar and solicited cocaine.
The complaint attributes the alleged request to Kouri. It does not allege that Sweeney requested cocaine, participated in the reported conversation or knew about the alleged attempt to purchase it or that Rick’s complex had any liability.
Above the Fold has not independently verified the allegations involving Sweeney. They are presented in Christina’s complaint as witness accounts and have not been established as fact by a court or independent investigation.
BACKGROUND:
Key West Police Sergeant Indicted by Grand Jury After Alleged On-Duty Drug Solicitation via Text from Patrol Vehicle
KEY WEST, Fla. — A Monroe County grand jury has indicted Key West Police Sgt. David Kouri on a misdemeanor charge stemming from an alleged on-duty text message exchange, a move that sharply contrasts with a prior internal investigation that concluded his actions did not rise to the level of a criminal offense.
Reports followed by discipline
Christina said he began reporting concerns about Kouri through KWPD’s chain of command in 2024.
In February 2025, he brought additional allegations to Lt. Joseph Stockton. Christina said he later saw Stockton laughing with Kouri about the complaint and concluded that reporting misconduct internally was no longer safe.
The following month, Christina became the subject of an internal-affairs investigation after an off-duty encounter outside a downtown business. Christina maintains that he notified officers at the scene and that the resulting investigation was retaliatory.
On May 28, 2025, Officers Jeremiah Osborne and C. Vanderhoof stopped Christina while he was riding his motorcycle. Christina alleged the officers told him they had been instructed to stop him but did not identify who gave the order.
Christina cited the traffic stop as evidence that he was being targeted.
In July, 2025, a supervisor reassigned Christina from his regular downtown beat. Christina said the supervisor told him he had done nothing wrong and that the reassignment was intended to shield him from further retaliation.
Christina filed a formal complaint Sept. 26 using information he had previously provided to Lt. Jeffrey Dean.
Twelve days later, on Oct. 8, Christina said Capt. Jason Lariz told him he had failed to meet probationary standards and must resign or face termination.
Christina was later rehired, effective Nov. 7.
Kouri filed a workplace complaint against Christina the following day, according to the whistleblower filing. On Nov. 19, two working days after Christina returned to duty, he was notified that he was the subject of another internal-affairs investigation.
That investigation, identified as PS 25-08, resulted in findings involving decorum, conduct unbecoming, spreading rumors, handling complaints and allegations, truthfulness and making false allegations.
Christina received six written reprimands on May 15.
He contends the department converted his reports of possible misconduct into disciplinary charges and then used those charges to undermine his credibility and threaten his employment.
The department’s finding of fact reportedly concluded that only one of Christina’s allegations against Kouri had validity and that the others were untrue, unsupported or lacked context.
Christina disputed those findings, pointing to accounts he said were provided by other officers and civilians, as well as the criminal case later brought against Kouri.
After filing his whistleblower complaint, Christina said the department offered to strike the reprimands as long as he withdrew his complaint.
BACKGROUND:
Key West Police Sergeant Pleads No Contest in Marijuana Case
KEY WEST, Fla. — Key West police Sgt. David Kouri, a supervisor previously investigated for sending on-duty text messages seeking marijuana while patrolling in a marked police vehicle, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a reduced criminal charge in Monroe County Circuit Court.
Kouri was indicted April 8 (2026) by a Monroe County grand jury on a state charge of solicitation to deliver or sell marijuana. The case arose from text messages in which he sought marijuana products while on duty and offered to give another civilian home in his patrol vehicle while on duty..
The indictment came after a KWPD internal investigation found no unlawful conduct. The department instead sustained a conduct-unbecoming allegation and issued Kouri a written reprimand.
Police Chief Sean Brandenburg placed Kouri on paid administrative leave April 20 while the department conducted another internal investigation.
The criminal prosecution is no longer pending, although Kouri remains under court supervision while serving probation.
Kouri was placed on paid leave following his adjudication, remaining on leave until he became eligible for retirement after 20 years of service. He was then permitted to retire from the KWPD with his benefits.
Christina’s complaint refers repeatedly to a federal grand jury. The publicly documented proceeding, however, was a Monroe County grand jury operating through Florida’s 16th Judicial Circuit.
The complaint alleges an FBI official told him March 23 that a grand jury had moved forward with part of the investigation before information about a possible indictment was leaked.
That account has not been independently confirmed, and no public federal indictment or federal criminal case involving Kouri has been identified.
Officers named in complaint participated in arrest
He was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a breath-alcohol test. He is presumed innocent until his day in court.
Osborne, whom Christina accused in the whistleblower complaint of possessing false identification and receiving alcohol before turning 21, wrote the arrest affidavit.
Vanderhoof, whom Christina accused of participating in the May 2025 motorcycle stop and other alleged misconduct, was involved in the downtown investigation preceding Christina’s arrest and later responded to Peary Court as a backup officer.
The arrest report states officers observed Christina with bloodshot and watery eyes, the odor of alcohol and difficulty maintaining his balance. Christina declined to perform field-sobriety exercises and later refused a breath test, according to the report.
The involvement of Osborne and Vanderhoof does not establish that Christina’s arrest was retaliatory. Their participation, however, places two officers named in his pending complaint directly inside the investigation that led to his arrest.
Police said body-camera and vehicle-camera recordings were submitted as evidence.
Christina is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 28.
In his whistleblower complaint, Christina asked outside agencies to independently investigate Kouri and the alleged retaliation by Brandenburg, Dean and Stockton. He also asked that the findings and reprimands arising from PS 25-08 be removed from his personnel file.
This is an evolving story. Watch this space.