Friday, October 24, 2008

Officer Alph Coleman Fired after being Indicted for Robbery

DALLAS

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has fired a Dallas police officer who was indicted earlier this week on an aggravated robbery charge.

Alph Coleman is accused of participating in a June robbery of Sam's Club where he worked off-duty as a security guard.

Coleman was fired Thursday during a disciplinary hearing in which he was accused of engaging in adverse conduct that resulted in his indictment, knowingly falsifying an affidavit by giving false and inaccurate information during an investigation and associating with persons of immoral character and convicted felons.

The former officer was working at the Sam's Club in police uniform when he told investigators that a man held a pistol to his head inside the store and forced him against his will toward the accounting office.

The robbery failed after employees barricaded themselves inside a storage room, police said.

Coleman then said in a police report he fired three times at the suspect who fled and was not caught. Police said they determined Coleman — who was hospitalized with a shoulder injury — was not telling the truth. Police also said they have phone records showing Coleman and the getaway driver had talked shortly before the robbery.

Coleman was assigned to the South Central Patrol Division and had been with the Dallas Police Department since September 2004. He was placed on administrative leave during the investigation.

A phone number listed under Coleman's name was disconnected Thursday night.


http://www.chron.com

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