Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Officer Gregory Mickel Fired After Arrest for Sexually Assaulting Prostitute

Police Chief William McManus effectively fired an officer Tuesday who was accused this month of sexually assaulting a prostitute while on duty.

Gregory Mickel, 31, was indefinitely suspended, which is tantamount to termination.

McManus' decision came about two weeks after he indefinitely suspended another officer who allegedly dropped his pants, exposing himself to two female students at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The officer, Patrick Muriel, 29, was arrested in February on a charge of indecent exposure.

Before Tuesday's decision, Mickel had been on administrative leave with pay following his arrest July 3 on charges of sexual assault and official oppression.

Mickel admitted to police that he had sex with a prostitute but claimed it was consensual. Yet police spokesman Joe Rios said such a scenario would not absolve an officer of wrongdoing.

“When you're on duty, there's no consent,” Rios said. “When you're in the official capacity of the office, you need to refrain from any of those activities.”

A woman called police last month and said an officer had sexually assaulted her in a secluded area on the East Side.

Officers, including Mickel, responded to the call, and the woman, 46, “made it clear at the time that it had been (Mickel) that sexually assaulted her,” according to an arrest affidavit.

Yet Mickel took responsibility for the call and did not mention the allegation of sexual assault, instead closing the call with an N-code, which relieved him of the responsibility of writing a report. He said he closed the call because the woman was “a psychiatric patient,” according to the document.

The woman that night refused to cooperate with a police investigation, the affidavit stated.

Two days later, she told police the following story:

On June 26, around 9 p.m., a man picked her up in a gray pickup. Soon after, an officer pulled over the truck, ordered her to sit in the back of his patrol car and told the man to leave.

Displaying her criminal history on his mobile laptop, the officer threatened to arrest the woman on her third count of prostitution and take her to jail on a felony charge if she did not have sex with him.

The woman asked the officer to put on a condom but he refused.

During the assault, the officer locked his duty belt in a vehicle compartment and lowered his uniform pants to his knees. Afterward, he drove her to a nearby location and told her to get out.

Computer records and a Global Positioning System later proved Mickel drove to the exact place the woman claimed the sexual assault occurred, the affidavit stated.

The other officer suspended this month, Muriel, who was arrested in February, was handed an indefinite suspension July 10, according to city records and a police spokeswoman.

The UTSA Police Department arrested Muriel after their own criminal investigation, during which the two victims picked him out of a lineup, according to reports.
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Chief Robert Peterson Arrested for Domestic Violence

Maysville Police Chief Robert Peterson has been booked on a domestic abuse complaint involving his girlfriend.

Peterson surrendered Tuesday morning and was released on bond.

His attorney, Scott Spratt, says his client should be presumed innocent and the story of the case will be quite different once Peterson gets to tell his side.

Peterson was previously arrested in a separate domestic dispute involving the same woman in 2007 and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in Garvin County.

His girlfriend, Cindy Herrera, who is listed as the victim in the latest allegations, was also charged with assault in the 2007 instance.

The Maysville city council has not determined what actions should be taken regarding Peterson's position as police chief.

Father Claims Police Abused his Two Boys

A father and two boys are accusing Milwaukee police officers of child abuse. They claim the offices roughed them up and used racial slurs.

The incident happened Friday when police pulled over the father and two boys at 794 and Oklahoma because the officers believed one of the boys an AK-47.

It turned out to be a toy gun but officers had no way of knowing that when they tried to arrest everyone.

There are photos of the man's 12-year-old son with red marks on his back. The father believes they are footprints from one of the officers as he tried to hold the boy down.

"I could hear my son saying, 'Stop you are hurting me,'' the boy’s father explained.

The boy’s parents don’t want their names used. They fear retaliation for filing a child abuse claim against the officers.

"These officers need to lose their jobs," said the boy’s mother. "As far as I’m concerned they are child abuser with a badge."

Police say their photos don’t support the abuse claim. But they are investigating the racial slur allegations.

"'What the M----F---- are you doing here?'" said the boy’s father as he recalled the words of the arresting officer! "'Go back to your country.'"

Reporter Charles Benson asked the dad, "There were racial slurs?"

"Yes. He called me an Asian spic," the father said.

Police said a realist looking toy gun triggered the arrest. They saw the boy’s 11-year-old friend was carrying the gun when the father picked him up. A few minutes later, the family's car was surrounded by police and the officers were yelling.

The boys said the gun had an orange tip on it, which is important because it means it’s a toy gun or fake. But when the officers recovered the gun the boys’ claim the officers removed the tip.

The boy’s father claims police never apologized and never offered to help his son who the dad said was injured and traumatized.

The father and the other boy with the toy gun were not hurt.

Police say they responded to the family allegations quickly and have started an investigation.

Officer Michael Trio Accused of Sexual Assault


A Clifton Forge police officer has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenager.

Michael Trio, 51, is accused of abusing an 18-year-old woman while off duty in February.

He was indicted by a grand jury on Monday, July 13 on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery and a related felony charge.

According to Clifton Forge Police Chief Barry Balser, Trio had been with the department for a year and half.

He's currently out on bond and has a position with the public works department pending the outcome of the trial.

His trial is set for early August.

Update on Officer Robert Sizemore Arrested for Child Rape

A Chattahoochee police officer arrested Saturday in Georgia on rape and child molestation charges is expected to make his first court appearance Friday, said Maj. Wendell Cofer of the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office.

Cofer said Robert Sizemore was arrested on charges of rape, child molestation and aggravated sexual battery. The victim was a juvenile female.

Cofer said Sizemore is currently undergoing medical treatment at an undisclosed hospital. Upon release, Cofer said he will be taken to the Decatur County Jail, unless the jail administrator decides to place him elsewhere because of his status as a former law-enforcement officer.

Cofer said the girl was assaulted Friday night and that she reported it to police the next day. Sizemore was later found at the Jameson Inn in Bainbridge, Ga., where he threatened suicide. Officers were able to talk him into leaving the hotel room peacefully.

A news release from the city of Chattahoochee says Sizemore worked as an officer from Nov. 27, 2008, until the day of his arrest, when he was fired. He worked as a correctional officer with the Florida Department of Corrections from August 2007 until July 2008, and as an officer with the Blountstown Police Department from October 1982 to November 1992.

A Chattahoochee Police officer arrested Saturday in Georgia on rape and child molestation charges has been fired, according to a release from the City of Chattahoochee.

The release states Robert Sizemore, an officer with the Chattahoochee Police Department since Nov. 27, 2008, was arrested on charges of rape, child molestation and aggravated sexual battery by the Decatur County Sheriff's Department following a reported sexual assault by a family member early Saturday morning.

Sizemore was found at the Jameson Inn, 1403 Tallahassee Highway, Bainbridge, Ga., according to the release, and threatened suicide. Chattahoochee Police Chief Vann Pullen came to the scene for assistance by request of DCSO.

The release states Sizemore previously worked as a correctional officer with the Florida Department of Corrections from August 2007 until July 2008, and as an officer with the Blountstown Florida Police Department from October 1982 to November 1992.