A former Hallandale Beach police officer accused of pawning department-issued weapons and other items had a gambling addiction that was well-known to his superiors, his attorney told Local10.com. Yan Kleyman was arrested on a charge of dealing in stolen property, Chief Sonia Quinones Friday in a video posted on the Hallandale Beach Police Department’s Facebook page. Quinones said a routine audit uncovered that Kleyman conducted pawn transactions with department-issued equipment. Miami attorney Richard L. Cooper told Local10.com in an email Friday night that the top brass at the Hallandale Beach Police Department about his client’s gambling addiction for years. “Kleyman’s superiors knew about his mental health condition, condoned his addiction and went as far as to deduct his gambling debts from his paychecks to repay his creditor fellow officers,” Cooper said. In another email, Cooper said the department went so far as to cancel its annual casino night last year in what he believes was a response to Kleyman’s known gambling addiction.
