Former sheriff candidate and Undersheriff Pat Turturici has
submitted a letter of resignation with the county that takes effect
Dec. 31, ending a 25-year career with the local office.
Former sheriff candidate and Undersheriff Pat Turturici has submitted a letter of resignation with the county that takes effect Dec. 31, ending a 25-year career with the local office.
Turturici submitted his letter of resignation last week, a month after he was defeated in November’s election by Watsonville police Lt. Darren Thompson, who will succeed Sheriff Curtis Hill at the start of January.
Turturici could not be reached immediately before publication.
The tumultuous sheriff’s campaign ended with the San Benito County and neighboring deputy sheriff’s associations pulling their endorsements of Turturici, citing integrity and ethical issues. The sheriff’s office in the last month of the race also conducted an internal investigation of Turturici after accusations he was threatening jobs over the election.
Turturici leaves after spending 25 years in the sheriff’s office, including six years as the county’s undersheriff behind Hill. Before that, he spent the previous 19 years working in the county jail. Turturici also was a reserve officer, while he worked at the jail, at the San Juan Bautista and Hollister police departments in the early 1990s.
During the budget hearings earlier this year, the board of supervisors cut the undersheriff position from the budget.
Hill did not return phone calls before press time.
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