Out with the new and in with the old…the former police chief of Davie has been given his old job back, temporarily, after the current Chief Dale Engle was put on leave for allegedly saying Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy Shannon Bennett died of COVID-19 because of his “homosexual” lifestyle.

On Thursday, Town Administrator Richard Lemack appointed former Davie Police Chief Patrick Lynn as acting chief. Lynn served as Davie’s police chief for about 10 years before he retired in 2017, according to a Davie press release.

“Chief Lynn will assume this temporary role while allegations brought forward by the Fraternal Order of Police against current Police Chief, Dale Engle, are being investigated,” the release said.

During a patrol briefing on April 7, Engle said Deputy Bennett contracted and died from the virus because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual sexual events,” according to a letter sent to Lemack from the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council Committee.