FL Police Chief Resigns, Blamed Cop's COVID Death on Homosexuality

The longtime police chief of Davie, Florida is outta work ... he quit his post after allegedly blaming a sheriff's deputy's COVID-19 related death on the guy being gay.

Dale Engle, who'd been on the force 22 years, resigned this week in a letter to his staff, saying he was proud of the town he'd served and the work he'd done -- but his departure comes on the heels of him getting placed on administrative leave.

Three months ago a police union accused Chief Engle of saying a Broward County Sheriff's Deputy who'd died from complications due to COVID had no one to blame but himself.

Specifically, the union claimed Engle flew off of the handle when some officers complained about a lack of safety measures to protect them from the coronavirus. During his rant, the union alleges Engle said BSO Deputy Shannon Bennett -- a 12-year vet himself -- contracted the virus and died as a result because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual 'sexual' events."