A sergeant involved in providing security to Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter was disciplined by Sheriff Ric Bradshaw last month for forcing agency helicopter pilots to take the commissioner on what was deemed a late-night “sightseeing tour” in January.
The sergeant, whose name was redacted from the reports because he once worked undercover, was also investigated for ordering an agent to drive Baxter to the national collegiate football championship at the Hard Rock Stadium three days after the unauthorized helicopter ride.
Stet News is identifying the sergeant, who no longer works undercover, as Bert Gaudreau, who was honored by Baxter in 2024 for his work on the street crimes unit in The Acreage, where she lives.
The helicopter ride, which came after 9:30 pm, and the roughly 125-mile round-trip to the most expensive college football game in history were initially investigated as a breach of policies that prohibit the use of the sheriff’s resources for private gain.
But, because Baxter said she was meeting with “other dignitaries” at the game in Miami Gardens for “undisclosed official business,” the sergeant was cleared of wrongdoing.
While Gaudreau was once being considered to head up a $3.3 million security unit that since January has covered the seven county commissioners and the county administrator, Joe Abruzzo, the post went to someone else and the sergeant is no longer involved, said Teri Barbera, a spokesperson for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Baxter established herself quickly as a commissioner who challenged norms. After taking office in 2022, on the coattails of fellow Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, she successfully pushed to get the carpet in her office replaced, saying it was giving her migraines. She said she found it cumbersome to use county approved vendors for purchases under $5,000 and questioned why she had to complete a safe-driving class to use county vehicles.
Last week she announced she would drop her reelection bid to run for Congress and on Thursday reversed herself, qualifying instead to run for a second and final term on the County Commission.
Official business vs. personal errands
Investigators said the two incidents, while similar, forced the sergeant — Gaudreau — to make vastly different calculations.
In the case of the football game, he had to believe Baxter when she told him the trip was for official county business, investigators wrote.
A photo taken at the game shows Baxter and her husband watching the championship with Gov. Ron DeSantis and others in the suite of Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, a Palm Beach billionaire who is reshaping the county as owner of the Related Ross development company.
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Baxter didn’t respond to a request for comment to explain what “official business” was discussed at the game where the average ticket cost as much as $6,000.
Deputies who are assigned to the detail are taught to know the difference between official business and personal errands, according to an unidentified officer who trained them. But, if a commissioner claims a trip is for official business, they have to believe her.
“If an agent was informed an event or circumstance was deemed official business by the dignitary, then the agency would conduct the movement,” investigators said, quoting the trainer, whose name was redacted from the report.
Pilots resisted mayor’s VIP flight
However, investigators said, there was no justification for Baxter’s Jan. 16 ride in one of the agency’s twin-engine Bell 429 helicopters that burns between $550 and $750 fuel an hour. Earlier in the day, Baxter had been on duty as county mayor, cutting the ribbon for the opening ceremony at the South Florida Fair.
But that night, Gaudreau violated departmental rules when he demanded that the pilots take Baxter on a “sightseeing” flight that was to include a flyover of her home in The Acreage, investigators wrote. They recommended he receive counseling.
Bradshaw agreed.
The flight might have gone off without a hitch because the sergeant had scheduled the flight with sheriff’s pilot Andrew Tucker. But, when Gaudreau and Baxter arrived at the agency’s hangar at Palm Beach International Airport at around 9:30 pm, Tucker had been given another assignment, investigators wrote.
Two other pilots weren’t aware of the planned flight. They said Eagle 1, the helicopter the agency typically uses to carry VIPs, had limited flight time availability because it was due for an engine overhaul. Further, they said, such flights had to be approved through the agency’s chain of command.
But, both said, the sergeant was persistent.
Pilot Christopher Cameron said that the sergeant said his rank gave him authority to approve the flight. Further, the sergeant insinuated that Baxter, as county mayor, approved PBSO’s budget so she should be accommodated.
Cameron said he felt pressured and intimidated by the sergeant to give Baxter a ride.
The other pilot, Michael Dever, recalled the sergeant making some of the same comments. But, he said, he didn’t consider them threats. He told investigators that he thought the sergeant was joking.
Ultimately, Baxter was given an 18-minute ride. The report doesn’t indicate the route.
But, it does say that Baxter wasn’t involved in the discussions between the sergeant and the pilots. Video showed that she stood outside the hangar while the three talked, investigators said.
Fuzzy security contract math
The two incidents occurred as the security detail was being expanded to the entire commission and Abruzzo. Baxter had a security detail for roughly two years before commissioners in November agreed they and Abruzzo also needed protection.
The decision came in a session closed to the public under state law allowing commissioners to discuss security matters privately. While a transcript is produced, it is not subject to public release.
How much was spent to provide security to Baxter is unclear. While the sheriff’s office initially declined to provide information, it last week acknowledged that from July 2024 to the end of January 2025, it paid $20,000 in overtime to deputies who were involved. That didn’t include their regular salaries. No additional information was available.
Details about the expanded program are equally limited. Invoices sent to the county clerk and comptroller’s office show that the security unit costs county taxpayers $211,000 a month, not including overtime which, in February, swelled costs by nearly $51,500.
The biggest single expense was the $700,000 the sheriff spent buying vehicles that are used to ferry commissioners to meetings and special events. The sheriff’s office declined to reveal the make of the vehicles or how many were purchased.
How often commissioners use the agents is unknown. Commissioner Marci Woodward said she no longer takes a $550 monthly car allowance because an agent drives her essentially everywhere.
Five commissioners continue to receive the allowance that adds $6,600 to their annual roughly $114,000 salaries. Baxter opted instead for the use of a county-owned Chevy Tahoe.
Commissioner Gregg Weiss, the only stipend-taking commissioner to respond to Stet’s requests for comment, said he continues to pocket the stipend because he still uses his personal car for county business.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
