Florida deputies disciplined for leaking Bob Saget’s death before family told

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Two Florida deputies who leaked the news of Bob Saget’s death before the actor’s family was properly notified have been disciplined.

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Emiliano Silva and Steven Reed violated the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s dissemination of information directive, according to an internal investigation.

Silva, one of the officers who responded to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Orlando, Grande Lakes, told his brother about the Full House star’s death. His brother then posted the news on Twitter with the message “RIP Bob Saget,” CNN reported.

He later deleted the tweet after Silva instructed him to, the report stated. The deputy told investigators he “really wasn’t thinking” when he shared the information with his brother, but that he “had no ill intent.”

Meanwhile, Reed was off-duty at the time but heard about the incident and spread the word to friends who had seen one of Saget’s recent stand-up comedy shows.

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Saget performed at the Ponte Verde Concert Hall in Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 8 and was found dead in his hotel room the next day.

Reed told investigators, “Hindsight, probably shouldn’t have shared it in the way and the manner that I did.”

According to the report, both deputies shared the news before Saget’s wife, Kelly Rizzo, or his children were informed of the comedian’s sudden death. The leak “resulted in an influx of media inquiries at a time when Mr. Saget’s next-of-kin had not been notified and Homicide Unit detectives had not even arrived at the scene.”

In February, Saget’s family sued the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and medical examiner to ensure “graphic details of the investigation not be disclosed publicly.”

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Brian Bieber, the family’s lawyer, agreed that “facts of the investigation should be made public,” but specific details and any “photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, statutorily protected autopsy information, and all other statutorily protected information” should remain private.

The sheriff’s office has not disclosed what disciplinary measures the deputies received.

Sage died as a result of a fall and blow to the head while alone in his room, according to the autopsy report. He also had COVID-19 at the time of his death. He was 65.