BATH, N.Y. (AP) _ State police in New York have arrested the ex-boyfriend of a missing Florida police cadet on an unrelated larceny charge.
David Perry was arrested at his home in Elmira in New York’s Southern Tier on Tuesday.
Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker says the former prison guard is accused of fraudulently collecting more than $50,000 in state disability payments.
He pleaded not guilty in Steuben County Court and is being held on $100,000 bail.
Perry’s scheduled back in court again, this time with a lawyer, next Wednesday.
Perry’s arrest comes nearly a year to the day after his ex-girlfriend, 35-year-old Kelly Rothwell, went missing from her Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. Home.
Baker says the timing is coincidental.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has called Perry a suspect in Rothwell’s disappearance and a $50,000 dollar reward is being offered to anyone who finds Rothwell’s body.
