Ex-Merced police detective booked into jail on grand theft charge

A former Merced police detective who recently admitted to embezzling money from the city’s police union has been arrested and is facing a felony charge of grand theft, according to court and jail records.

Joe Deliman, 57, a longtime ex-detective has been under investigation for about a year in connection with financial discrepancies from when he was the head of the Merced Police Officers Association.

According to a complaint filed Tuesday in Merced Superior Court, Deliman is accused of taking $82,495.94 in “money and personal property” from the Merced Police Officers’ Association between Jan. 1, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2017.

He was in booked into custody at 2:36 p.m. Tuesday, jail records show. He bailed out about two hours later, Sheriff Vern Warnke confirmed.

Merced Police Chief Chris Goodwin described the criminal case against a once-prominent lead investigator as “sad.”

“This was a trusted member of the police department for many years. And that he did this, nobody benefits from it. It puts a black eye on law enforcement in general.”

Deliman allegedly used union funds to pay for trips to Las Vegas and Niagara Falls along with other activities, according to an affidavit.

Deliman reportedly lied to union members and told them one of the union’s accounts had been closed when he secretly kept it open and used the funds to pay charges on his credit card, according to the criminal complaint.

Deliman admitted to embezzling funds from the union in August during a hearing of a murder trial stemming from an investigation he once led.

Authorities are looking into some cases Deliman has previously investigated, Goodwin said.

“In most of these cases, we have evidence of the interviews, which were videotaped. They’ll be able to look at that in its entirety, do an investigation,” Goodwin said

The police chief doesn’t believe the allegations against Deliman are a reflection of the former investigator’s capability as a detective.

During his two decades at the Merced Police Department, Deliman was involved in some of the city’s highest-profile cases, including as the lead investigator into the still-unsolved slayings of Bill and Lena Chapman.

This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 4:51 PM.