Florida Police Officer Arrested for Supplying Information to Casino Bomber

A Florida police officer was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sharing privileged information with a suspect in an attempted casino bombing.

St. Petersburg Police Officer Brandon Klaiber, 40, is said to have given restricted details to Bryan Eckley, who police say planted explosive devices at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa last September.

The connection between the two men was discovered when investigators searched Eckley’s phone and found text messages between him and Klaiber.

An unexpected ally

St. Petersburg Police said that Eckley requested privileged information from Klaiber, who allegedly gathered the details from a protected police database.

“[Klaiber] would use the confidential database system here at the police department, it’s only for law enforcement use, he would use that database system and share it with the suspect that’s why he was arrested on a third-degree felony,” said Chief Anthony Holloway, who served as Chief since 2014.

Upon the discovery, an investigation was launched. Klaiber was placed on administrative leave shortly thereafter in Dec. 2024, and he had his credentials and computer access revoked. 

It was then revealed that Klaiber supplied Eckley with information regarding driver’s licenses, car tags, and other personal details. 

"We’re going to have to look at every person that he ran in the computer system and try to tie those to either a traffic stop that he made or a case that he was working,” said Holloway. “If it does not link to that we're going to see then who did he share that information with.”

Klaiber was hit with two counts of offenses against intellectual property and will be the subject of an administrative review by The Police Department's Office of Professional Standards.

Klaiber has served the St. Petersburg Police Department since Nov. 2008.

What happened at the casino?

Thankfully, the would-be casino bombing was sniffed out before it caused any fatalities.

Eckley placed two radio-controlled homemade explosives in a restroom at Hard Rock on Sept. 29 and 30. Hard Rock was forced to evacuate the property twice within 12 hours.

An arrest warrant said that one of the devices was found near a gas line. Had it been triggered, it would have “posed a serious bodily injury to anyone in the vicinity,” the warrant noted.

Police described the devices as “crude concealed… with firework components.”

Eckley was identified as the perpetrator using casino surveillance footage. He was arrested near the end of October 2024, and police found guns, stun guns, chemical grenades, and flashbangs at his home.

He was charged with making, possessing, throwing, projecting, placing, or discharging a destructive device with the intent to cause harm. However, it is still unclear what his motives were for planting the device and stockpiling an arsenal at his home.

Nobody was injured by the devices at the casino, which never detonated and were removed by a bomb squad.