Former police chief accused of having sex with suspect’s wife while conducting investigation

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. (WESH) - A Florida police chief has resigned amid allegations he had sex with the wife of a man he was investigating.

The allegations were detailed in a newly released report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Former Howey-in-the-Hills Police Chief Michael Giddens had nearly three decades in law enforcement, with the lion’s share split between the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The new report out from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office details both agencies’ findings against Giddens.

The report said Giddens violated a specific section of town and police code dealing with moral character and sex while on duty.

The report states the investigation on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s side started with a phone call to an agent last November, in which the caller described a text message thread he found between his girlfriend and Giddens.

The caller said the texts showed Giddens had been conducting a fraud investigation on the woman’s husband during spring 2025. She had filed for divorce prior to dating the caller.

The caller told the agent that while Giddens was surveilling the husband and communicating with the wife, the police chief and the woman went to a hotel behind Chili’s where they met up for lunch and had consensual sex in March 2025.

The woman reportedly told her new boyfriend she was ashamed, but the report states that the text messages with Giddens continued.

The report also claims Giddens and the woman met up once again in May to have sex.

Investigators interviewed the woman in December, but she told officials she didn’t have those messages.

Then in March, investigators received a confidential tip that helped move the case forward.

When questioned by investigators in April 2026, the woman acknowledged she still texted with Giddens while her ex-husband was locked up, but that she couldn’t help being a nice person.

In May, an anonymous email went out to town employees detailing the allegations.

Giddens was suspended and then later stepped down.

Howey-in-the-Hills officials brought on the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a concurrent investigation with the state.