DETROIT (WXYZ) — A former Detroit Fire Department dispatcher is facing a federal charge after allegedly warning her family about an incoming raid and lying to federal officers about it.
In a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Stephanie Steen is charged with one count of making false statements to an agency of the United States.
According to the complaint, Steen, who was a lieutenant and dispatcher for DFD, warned her brother and mother of a search warrant that was going to be executed at their home in the early morning hours of March 5, 2025.
Steen allegedly called her mother at 3:13 a.m. on March 5, 2025, just three minutes after Detroit police initiated a "call for service" for their home on Turner Street, which is when DPD provides a marked police car in support of a federal search warrant.
She was allegedly working at the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters from 6 p.m. on March 4, 2025, to 6 a.m. on March 5, 2025. DPSH is where both DFD and DPD have dispatch centers.
"Additional DPD records revealed that at approximately 3:17 AM, approximately seven minutes after the creation of the call for service in the DPD dispatch system, Steen's unique username was used to view the call for service related to the execution of the search warrant at the Turner Street Location," the complaint said.
Around 3:36 a.m., it's alleged that Steen's brother, identified as C.B., began messaging another person on Facebook about the incoming search warrant.
Text messages between Steen and her mother also allegedly show the warning.
Around 3:23 a.m., the text messages read:
STEEN: It suppose to start at 430
C.S.: Ok
STEEN: They will probably do it at 5 in the morning
They probably come at 5 in the morning
C.S.: Do they knock the door down?
STEEN: Yes Sit on the porch at 445
C.S.: Ok
STEEN: They looking for a young boy Do everybody have they id
C.S.: Yes but they old
STEEN: So
C.S.: Ok
STEEN: Don't tell them I told you
Federal agents interviewed Steen in January 2026 where it's alleged that she lied about the warning and said that the username was not hers.
"Agents confronted Steen about knowing about the search warrant, at which time she stated, 'I don’t remember anything back in March.' When further confronted, Steen stated, 'nothing interfered with anything because you guys got…..nothing interfered,'" the complaint reads.
According to the complaint, the search warrant at the home on Turner Street was related to an investigation involving unemployment insurance fraud and bribery. The feds say it was scheduled for 4 a.m. due to the work schedule of C.B.
When the search warrant was executed, the feds say that lights were on at the home and people inside were moving around prior to the search warrant.
