Tiny town plagued by sex scandal as police chief is accused of having VERY sordid relations with suspect's wife behind Chilli's

Published: 01:45, 29 July 2026 | Updated: 01:50, 29 July 2026 A small-town police chief in Florida is said to have had an affair with the estranged wife of a suspect he was investigating for fraud. Michael Giddens, the former police chief of Howey-in-the-Hills, even allegedly engaged in sexual relations with the unidentified woman while he was on duty, a damning 78-page report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Lake County Sheriff's Office claims. He did not commit any criminal wrongdoing in his affair, but the two law enforcement agencies found he violated police and town policies dealing with moral character and sex on duty, according to WESH.  The scandal rocked the town of about 1,870 residents and Giddens, who had nearly three decades of law enforcement experience, was placed on administrative leave from the police force amid the investigation.  He then resigned from his position last month, claiming that his private life was 'being targeted by anonymous individuals driven by personal and political agendas.' The then-police chief then said he was stepping down from his position 'to preserve the integrity of the Office of the Chief,' Fox 35 Orlando reports.  'While I have always maintained the highest standards of a professional conduct, I refuse to allow my personal life to be used as a tool to distract from vital work of this agency,' he wrote in his resignation. Michael Giddens, the former police chief of Howey-in-the-Hills, was accused of having an affair with the wife of a man he was investigating for fraud The sex scandal rocked the tiny Florida town of about 1,870 residents The saga began in December 2024 when Giddens, then a lieutenant with the police department, opened a potential contractor fraud case against an unidentified suspect. He was promoted to police chief months later, in October 2025, but continued to pursue the suspect. When the man he was investigating then allegedly stopped responding in March 2025, Giddens decided to contact the suspect's wife to see if she could track down her husband. The two then continued to text and soon, Giddens and the woman met at a hotel behind a local Chili's for lunch and consensual sex while he was on duty, according to the report.  Months later, in May, Giddens and the woman met up a second time to have intercourse. The relationship then ended in late 2025, when the woman got into a new relationship and began to divorce her husband. But still, Giddens continued to message the woman on WhatsApp, the report claims, according to Click Orlando.  By November, the woman's new boyfriend called the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to report that he had found text messages between his girlfriend and Giddens showing that the police chief struck up a relationship with the woman while he was surveilling her ex. A report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Lake County Sheriff's Office details how Giddens met the woman at a hotel behind a local Chili's for lunch and consensual sex while he was on duty in March 2025. A Chili's restaurant is pictured When the woman was then questioned by investigators in April, she acknowledged she had still been texting with Giddens and her then-locked up ex-husband. She also told investigators that her sexual encounters with the police chief were consensual and that she never felt that Giddens was harassing her or cyberstalking her – adding that she didn't want him to get in trouble. Still, Giddens was placed on administrative leave on May 4, and resigned from the department one month later.  Due to his resignation, town officials said they cannot impose any employment-related disciplinary measures on Giddens despite the report – which they said they published as a matter of record. Town officials are now continuing to search for Giddens' replacement, as John Batchelor serves as interim police chief.