Stay-at-home Highway Patrol sergeant placed on paid leave

The State Highway Patrol has placed on paid leave a sergeant whom WRAL Investigates found at home last fall when he was supposed to be working.

The move starts the clock on a 30-day period in which the patrol must either take disciplinary action against Sgt. Maurice DeValle or give him his job back.

WRAL Investigates spent weeks last fall tracking DeValle on various days he was working and routinely found his cruiser in the driveway of his Wake County home while he was on the clock, including while other Highway Patrol troopers were working overtime during and after Hurricane Matthew responding to stranded drivers and keeping people off flooded roads.

According to Highway Patrol policy, troopers "... must be in their assigned duty station at the beginning of their assigned shift."

On at least four occasions from early October to mid-November, DeValle was at home despite reporting that he was on the road or on duty in Wayne County, where the 18-year Highway Patrol veteran is one of the agency's highest-ranking officers.

After WRAL Investigates took its information to the Highway Patrol, officials placed DeValle on administrative duty and took away his cruiser, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

He has now been placed on investigatory leave, which means he can continue to stay home and collect his $69,000 salary.