Tarpon Springs Detective Had a Felon 'Mistress,' Police Say

A Tarpon Springs Police detective has been accused of developing an intimate relationship with a felon.

John Loibl resigned from his job as a detective Aug. 13 while under investigation for violating department policies. 

The investigation found the following:

Loibl, an officer at the department since 2005, met Nickole Carter in the summer of 2010 at Busch Gardens. He was off-duty and she was on probation stemming from a charge of possession of a controlled substance. Loibl, who was married, struck up a friendship with Carter, and it eventually turned into something more intimate. 

Two years later, Loibl helped Carter find a place to stay in Tarpon and get a job at Subway. He would stop by her trailer at least once a week in his agency car while her kids were at school and engage in "sexual relationship" with her, a police department press release said.  He would use his agency car to bring her to appointments at probation office.

On one such visit to the probation office this past July 26, Carter asked her probation officer permission to visit her mother in Perry. The probation officer saw Loibl’s car and approached it, thinking Carter’s ex-boyfriend was driving it. 

However, she recognized the man behind the wheel as Loibl, according to the release. He told her Carter was his cousin and that he was giving her a ride. He asked her not to say anything because he had taken a sick day to bring Carter to her mother’s.

The probation officer later talked to Carter about her relationship with the detective and Carter referred to herself as Loibl’s “mistress,” detectives say. 

The probation officer called the police department, and that’s when the investigation started.

Loibl was put on administrative leave during the investigation and resigned while the investigation was still going on. The police investigation continued after his departure and found that there is enough evidence to justify firing him, the press release stated. 

The findings are now being sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for review.