HENDRY COUNTY — Hendry County Sheriff Steve Whidden announces the arrest of 27-year-old, K-9 Deputy Braxton Haight on Nov. 3, on charges of Extortion under Florida Statute 836.05.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Haight left a voicemail for Sheriff Whidden to contact him regarding a matter that was pretty urgent and was “in everyone’s best interest to talk a about”.  Sheriff Whidden returned Haight’s call when Haight told Whidden that he was aware that Sheriff Whidden was attempting to terminate his employment with the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office and further stated he had documentation that he would release to the public if the Sheriff did not meet his demands.  Haight went on to tell the Sheriff in exchange for not releasing the information, he would like the Sheriff to give him his Police K9 dog and leave his personnel file without disciplinary actions.  The Sheriff then arranged to meet with Haight to discuss this more.

At approximately 4:00pm, K9 Deputy Braxton Haight met with Sheriff Whidden.  The meeting took place at the Hendry County Port LaBelle Annex.  Prior to the meeting, the office was pre-wired and video recorded.  Haight told Whidden that he had a recording of what he referred to as having a Sheriff’s Deputy making a derogatory comment.   Haight continued to reference the information as “a little bit of insurance” that would not make the agency look good.  Haight did threaten to release a video if his demands were not met. 

Detectives then did take Braxton Haight into custody charging him with Felony Extortion.  Hight is currently being held I the Hendry County Jail on $10,000.00 bond.