But while police responded to the domestic violence call, one of the officers allegedly took the woman into an upstairs bedroom and sexually assaulted her, authorities said.
Detroit Police Officer Deon Nunlee has been charged in the alleged Oct. 30 assault of a 31-year-old woman. Police said DNA connected Nunlee to the assault.
“I’m troubled,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a news conference Friday. “Certainly, this is the type of criminal misconduct that should never happen by any member of this department, or any department for that matter.”
Nunlee, 40, has been charged with three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count each of assault with intent to penetrate and misconduct in office, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutors said Nunlee and his partner were dispatched to an early-morning domestic violence run on the 16000 block of Asbury Park, where the woman said she had been assaulted by her boyfriend.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Nunlee took the woman upstairs and his partner stayed with the boyfriend downstairs.
“It is alleged that when Nunlee was in an upstairs bedroom with the woman, he sexually assaulted her,” according to the prosecutor’s office. “While they were alone upstairs, Nunlee indicated he would be coming back to the house later at 7 a.m.”
Police said Nunlee did not return.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the woman reported the alleged assault to police the next day.
Craig said the other officer at the scene did nothing wrong. He said that in domestic dispute situations, officers do keep parties at safe distance, but in this case, they were in different parts of the home. For officer safety, Craig said, “an officer should never lose line of sight of their partner.”
Cmdr. Johnny Thomas of the department’s professional standards bureau said that when the woman reported the alleged assault to police on Oct. 31, Nunlee was placed on administrative duties. On. Feb. 10, after results from the rape kit came back, Nunlee was suspended without pay, Thomas said.
Asked whether Nunlee denied the allegation, Thomas said Nunlee was given his Miranda warning and took his right to remain silent.
Nunlee was arraigned Friday in Detroit’s 36th District Court. His preliminary examination is scheduled for April 17.
Nunlee, who was working in the 8th Precinct, has been on the force since 2008 and previously had minor misconducts, police said.
Craig said this incident is not a reflection of the department.
“This is an anomaly. This is not what our police officers do,” Craig said. “This officer who decided to engage in criminal misconduct does not represent the 2,500 or so sworn men and women who wear this uniform.”
Nunlee is the third Detroit police officer to face charges this month.
■ On Wednesday, Detroit Police Officer Johnny Ray Bridges, 47, was charged with unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, domestic violence and reckless discharge of a firearm in connection with the assault of a 31-year-old woman on Monday.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Bridges was off duty when he got into an argument with the woman, fired a handgun in the air and punched and kicked her in her face and body. Prosecutors said both had been drinking.
■ Suspended Detroit Police Officer Dana Bond, 41, is facing misdemeanor charges of high blood-alcohol content, failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident with property damage. Bond is accused of driving while intoxicated and getting into an accident on Sunday. Bond was already suspended without pay at the time of the accident because she is facing retail fraud charges for allegedly stealing wine and food from stores in Detroit.
On Friday, before the news conference, Craig said the department “will always vigorously investigate any allegations of misconduct.”
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