Lake Sheriff's Department can't account for missing $7,600

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - A northwestern Indiana sheriff's department says it can't account for more than $7,600 missing from one of its divisions.

Lake County Police Chief William Paterson tells the Post-Tribune the county sheriff's department can't account for the money that an audit by the State Board of Accounts found missing from its Civil Division last year.

The audit found four deposits over a 16-day period never made it to a bank. Paterson says deposits in the division were not regularly deposited and the money had been left in a desk drawer.

Paterson said the amount of access formerly allowed in that area made it difficult to pin down when the money was taken or by whom. Paterson said anyone in the department could walk through the area.

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Information from: Post-Tribune, http://posttrib.chicagotribune.com/