How Police Caught Officer Daniel Holtzclaw

Prosecutors say Officer Daniel Holtzclaw made a mistake after a series of sexual assaults on black women in Oklahoma City — he profiled the wrong woman. His family says he’s a victim of “solicited testimony” from women who have “personal motives” to lie. BuzzFeed News reports from the Oklahoma County courtroom where, Wednesday, prosecutors described a pattern of sexual harassment and assault.

Daniel Holtzclaw made a mistake, an Oklahoma County prosecutor argued on Wednesday: “He messed up.”

Holtzclaw’s mistake was pulling over the wrong person: A woman who, when he allegedly assaulted her, wouldn’t hesitate to call the police.

It happened around 2 a.m. on June 18, when Holtzclaw, a 27-year-old police officer, was ending his shift on the northeast side of Oklahoma City. He switched off his patrol car computer. Then, without calling for assistance or otherwise notifying his station, police said, Holtzclaw made a traffic stop.

The woman — identified in court documents as J.L. and in local media reports as a 57-year-old grandmother — said she was driving home after playing dominos with a friend, according to detective Kim Davis, who recounted J.L.’s story at length during a hearing at the Oklahoma County Courthouse.

When Officer Holtzclaw approached J.L.’s car, she couldn’t roll down her broken driver’s side window, Davis said. So Holtzclaw directed her to the rear passenger side seat of his patrol car. He asked if she had been drinking — he had noticed a Styrofoam cup in her front seat. She said no, according to Davis, and that the drink was Kool-Aid. He continued questioning her, and she suggested he go taste it. He walked over to her car, but J.L. couldn’t see what he was doing. When he came back, Holtzclaw asked if J.L. had anything else on her.

“If you have something on you and you tell me now, then I won’t take you to jail,” he allegedly told J.L., according to Davis. “But if you don’t tell me about it now, and I find something, then I’m gonna take you to jail.” J.L. said no, again. She was still sitting in his patrol car.

“He opens the door and he tells her, ‘I’ve got to check you,’” Davis said. “And he says, ‘Lift your shirt.’”

She lifted her shirt to her stomach, and Davis motioned. “He goes, ‘I can’t see that. There might be something in your bra.’ And so she grabs the bottom of her bra, she said, and just shakes it … And he goes, ‘Nope, that’s not good enough.’”

J.L. lifted her shirt and bra, Davis said, and Holtzclaw shined his flashlight on her exposed breasts.

“She said about that time, she noticed that he started playing with his penis,” Davis said. “Then he tells her to stand up … and he says, ‘Pull down your pants.’”

J.L. lowered her pants but left her underwear up, and Holtzclaw turned his flashlight to her “vaginal area,” Davis said. Holtzclaw then told J.L. to sit back down. She planted her feet on the concrete, sitting sideways in his patrol car.

When J.L. looked up, Davis said, Holtzclaw’s penis was in her face.

“She started begging him, ‘Please don’t do this. You’re not supposed to do this.’ … She kept thinking in her mind, OK, this is a police officer, and if he’s gonna do this, he’s gonna kill me. And I’m not gonna make it out of this alive …”

“And he put it in her mouth, and she pulled away. And she said, ‘Please, please don’t do this.’ And he put it back in her mouth. And she said for about 10 seconds. Then he pulled it out and stopped, and he told her, ‘I’m gonna follow you home.’”

J.L. went back to her car, Davis said. She pulled into what she thought was a driveway, then did a U-turn. Holtzclaw pulled his car around her and unexpectedly took off.

At home, J.L. and her daughter did what middle-class people in Oklahoma City do when they’ve been the victim of crimes: called the local police station. When no one answered, according to Davis, they went to report the alleged assault in person.

Davis was the on-call detective in the Oklahoma City Police Sex Crimes Unit that night and met J.L. at the hospital, where she was receiving a sexual assault medical forensic exam. Two and a half months later, on Wednesday afternoon, Davis and another detective recounted for a district judge how J.L.’s report was similar to an unsolved May 2014 assault report allegedly involving an officer. The connection led the detectives to identify six more women who said they’d been assaulted, raped, or forced to expose themselves to Holtzclaw while he was on duty.

Holtzclaw’s “mistake” — the slip-up that prosecutors said landed him in orange jail scrubs in an unremarkable fluorescent-lit courtroom on Wednesday — was believing J.L. was similar to his other alleged victims: all black middle-aged women, but women of a lower social status and with reason to fear the authorities. They had been caught with active warrants or drug paraphernalia. J.L., Davis said, had no criminal record to be held over her. She was driving through the neighborhood where the other women were confronted, but she didn’t live there.

“He’s stepping out,” Assistant District Attorney Gayland Gieger said Wednesday. “He’s getting bolder.”

J.L.’s report would put Holtzclaw on administrative leave and make up two of the state’s 16 charges against the young cop. But more broadly, it would launch a case that underscores how alleged police abuse of minorities goes far beyond Ferguson, Missouri — but how national attention does not.

Daniel Holtzclaw “vehemently denies each and every” charge brought against him, his lawyer said in a statement Saturday. Holtzclaw didn’t speak at Wednesday’s hearing. He would occasionally whisper to his attorneys, but his expression remained unreadable as he intently watched the witnesses — among them his father, a childhood friend who lived with Holtzclaw while he was at the police academy, and a sports reporter. Many more family members and friends sat in the front rows of the courtroom, including Holtzclaw’s girlfriend of six months, his defense attorney Scott Adams said.

Holtzclaw joined the Oklahoma City Police Department in September 2011, officials said in a press conference after his arrest. A year earlier, he had graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a criminal justice degree and had tried and failed to get drafted into the NFL.

Holtzclaw today looks the same award-winning linebacker he did then: 6-foot-2, 260 pounds, tree-trunk neck, short black hair. When he was arrested, it was outside his gym.

Holtzclaw’s father, Eric, is a 17-year veteran of the Enid Police Department. His mother, Kumiko, is unemployed but does some baking from their home, Eric Holtzclaw said. He has two sisters. One of them, Jenny, has been leading the movement to raise support for him online, selling shirts that say “Free the Claw” — his nickname.

Recently, on the Justice for Daniel Holtzclaw Facebook page she created, Jenny posted a message her father sent her after he passed a Coke machine at work and saw two bottles with their names — Daniel and Eric — side by side. He saw this as a “sign from god” and bought them. “I am determined to help him through these tough [times] for he is my son and I love him dearly!!!”

In a statement, the Holtzclaw family said much of the “witness and officer testimony presented by the prosecution … is based on solicited testimony by the police department of felons, prostitutes and others who would have personal motives beyond the basic truth to fabricate their stories.”

“We ask the public to wait to cast judgment on Daniel as he is entitled to the same rights under the law as any other citizen,” the family said.

AP / Sue Ogrocki

In May, a woman known as T.M. approached a group of officers and reported that an unknown officer had sexually assaulted her, Detective Rocky Gregory testified Wednesday.

Gregory said T.M. — an “admitted drug user, prostitute” — was at an apartment complex “kind of known for drugs,” around 9 p.m. on May 8. She left on foot but was stopped by Holtzclaw, whom she’d allegedly seen at the complex earlier that night.

Holtzclaw put her in the backseat of his patrol car and took her purse, Gregory said. He drove for about two blocks before stopping to check her name for existing warrants. He then went through her purse and allegedly found a crack pipe.

“What are we gonna do about this?” Holtzclaw asked, according to Gregory.

“She says, ‘Why don’t you just stomp out the pipe, we’ll call it good?’” Gregory said. T.M. was still sitting in the backseat, she said, when Holtzclaw got out of the car and exposed his erect penis to her.

“He’s made it very clear it’s basically this or jail,” Gregory said. “She then turns her head, places her mouth on his penis, and performs oral sex for a short period of time.”

Holtzclaw did not ejaculate, Gregory said, but he stopped after about two minutes. He offered to give her a ride, but she said no.

“He says, ‘No, I want to make sure that you’re safe,’” Gregory said. “He was supposed to take her to another location to let her go, but then he goes almost in the exact opposite direction, kind of zigzags through the neighborhood … And then he starts to pull off by an open-field park area. Once he stopped there, she got real worried. She started to scream, thinking that this is not where it’s gonna end.”

But then Holtzclaw drove back around again, taking her to the place she originally wanted to go and letting her out. Later, T.M. showed Gregory in person the route they went. Gregory then referenced the route with Holtzclaw’s automated vehicle locator, a GPS recorder on all patrol cars. It was an exact match, he said.

After connecting T.M. and J.L.’s reports, the Sex Crimes Unit began looking through Holtzclaw’s automatically recorded history of running names through the department’s two databases, looking specifically for people who’d been checked out multiple times. (One system shows information including someone’s arrest record, what kind of contact they’ve had with police, whether they’ve reported a crime, and their address. The other system is used to check for existing warrants.)

Davis and Gregory took two lists of names — created by the unit’s lieutenant through a victimology profile — into northeast Oklahoma City, telling each woman on the list that they had received a tip that she may have been sexually assaulted. An undisclosed “percentage” of the women said yes. By the end of the investigation, six more women joined T.M. — who initially did not want to prosecute — and J.L.

“They all matched up basically in age,” Gregory said. “The earliest one was probably in her thirties. The oldest in the fifties. They all kind of looked like they were in their fifties.”

They were all black women — a majority, he added, had “some kind of drug history, maybe a prostitution history.”

By allegedly focusing on poor black women with criminal records, Holtzclaw kept himself from being caught — until he met J.L., a black woman who was just passing through the neighborhood he patrolled. “Not only is this individual stopping women who fit a profile of members of our society who are confronted rightly or wrongly by police officers all the time,” said the prosecutor, Gieger. “He identifies a vulnerable society that without exception except one have an attitude for ‘What good is it gonna do? He’s a police officer. Who’s going to believe me?’”

There was T.B., a woman who said she was confronted by Holtzclaw while sitting in a parked car in front of her house on Feb. 27, 2014. He ran her name and found existing warrants, Gregory said. He began asking her about drugs in the house and brought up the warrants, telling T.B. he could place her under arrest. He told her he needed to “check her for any drugs,” Gregory said.

“He then tells her to lift her shirt. He lifts her shirt to her belly, says, ‘Now I need to see everything.’ He then makes reference about the warrants and the arrest … She just goes ahead and lifts her bra and shirt according to what he requested.”

Oklahoma City Police Department policy is to call a female officer over to do a complete search when the suspect is required to lift her shirt above her belly. T.B. had been stopped before and knew that was the procedure, Gregory said. But according to court documents, Holtzclaw touched her bare breasts with his hand and without her consent.

Through Holtzclaw’s car GPS record, Gregory confirmed that the officer returned to T.B.’s house multiple times over the following month. In one instance, Holtzclaw allegedly broke into the house without permission, woke T.B.’s sleeping boyfriend — the only person in the house at the time — and told him to go outside, running his name for warrants.

Shortly afterward, T.B. pulled up to the house with her kids in the car, Gregory said, and Holtzclaw told her to step back to his patrol car.

He repeated the same motions, Gregory said — running her name for warrants, asking about drugs, and making “reference to, you know, ‘We can kind of take care of these warrants … Just play by my rules.’”

T.B. said she knew Holtzclaw meant that she could “do sexual favors and the warrants could probably disappear,” according to Gregory.

Holtzclaw told T.B. to lift her shirt again, and T.B. complied, though “it was obvious she did not have a bra on,” Gregory said. Then he looked down her pants; she said she didn’t have any underwear on, according to Gregory.

T.B.’s boyfriend, Terry Williams, testified on Wednesday that Holtzclaw woke him up and “ran me outside,” though he couldn’t recall many specific details — he was “kind of tipsy that day,” he said. But when T.B. later told him about her interactions with Holtzclaw, Williams “got kinda mad, and I just told her just to handle it the best way she can.”

“Afterwards, [Holtzclaw] told [Williams], ‘If I ever see you in this neighborhood or around this area, I’m gonna stop you every time,’” Gregory said. “He made it very clear he was not welcome around there, at this woman’s house.”

The next day, around dinnertime, Gregory said, T.B. saw Holtzclaw walking up to her house. She still didn’t know the officer’s name; she called him “Spike,” because of his hair. “She knew that she was gonna be harassed by him again,” Gregory said, and started to call her mother. Holtzclaw knocked at the door, and T.B. answered.

“She says, ‘I’m making dinner for my kids,’” Gregory said. “He asked to come in. She tells him, ‘No, you can’t.’ He says, ‘Well, I need to check your house for drugs.’” They argued, and Holtzclaw told her that he would be back, according to Gregory, while T.B.’s mother listened on from the phone. T.B.’s mother later allegedly told the detective she could hear Holtzclaw “bullying her daughter.”

T.B.’s allegations make up five of the 16 counts against Holtzclaw, including sexual battery, burglary, two counts of indecent exposure, and stalking.

Prosecutors said they believe that Holtzclaw gradually escalated his behavior; on March 14, one of the earlier instances of misconduct uncovered, he stopped a woman known as C.R. and had her expose her breasts in the same way he allegedly did the others.

“She said she had been stopped several times by officers, but this was the only time she felt like she was forced into doing something that she didn’t feel comfortable with, [and] was inappropriate,” Gregory said.

On Wednesday, the prosecutor asked Gregory why C.R. didn’t report the incident.

“The reason she didn’t is the reason that she would feel [like] a lot of females probably wouldn’t either,” Gregory said. “If they had turned in an officer, the officer would cause a lot more problems for them — maybe tell a drug house they’re a snitch — and then they have a lot of problems in the neighborhood. And she said that that would keep her from ever telling on an officer.”

On April 14, Holtzclaw allegedly stopped a woman known as F.M., following the pattern described by prosecutors: putting her in the backseat, asking about drugs and prostitution, running a check on her through the police systems, and telling her he needed to search her.

“She said that she kind of turned her back to him, because she thought he was going to do a pat search,” Davis said. Holtzclaw allegedly “reached up behind her and grabbed her butt and boobs” over her clothes. Davis added that when she first approached F.M. about the possibility she’d been assaulted, F.M. “immediately bowed her head and started crying.”

On April 24, a woman named R.G. had “just left a crack house,” Davis said, when Holtzclaw pulled his car beside her and asked what she was doing. She allegedly told him she was getting high.

Holtzclaw got out of the car and searched R.G.’s purse, Davis said. He found her pipe and made her break it on the ground in front of him. He put her in the backseat, and she acknowledged that she had been getting “some dates” that night, according to Davis. He offered to give her a ride home.

“Her words were, ‘He pulled up in the driveway like he lived there,’” Davis said. R.G. told Davis she noticed Holtzclaw was following her into the house, but she assumed it was because she was on probation and he was trying to verify her address.

“She kind of was giving him a tour,” Davis said. “She was like, ‘This is the living room, this is the den, this is where I live.’ He doesn’t say anything. He follows her upstairs.”

In her bedroom, Holtzclaw told R.G. to sit down. “He said, ‘This is better than the county,’ unzipped his pants, and, she said, he put his erect penis in her face,” Davis said.

R.G. began performing oral sex, according to Davis. Then “he told her to lay back, and she did, and he climbed on top of her and had vaginal sex with her and he did not use a condom.”

Afterward, R.G. told Holtzclaw she thought she heard the front door, Davis said. “He zipped up his pants and left.”

On May 7, Holtzclaw stopped a woman known as S.E. Like in the other alleged victims’ accounts, he put her in the back of his patrol car and asked her questions about drugs before getting out, standing next to her open door, and unzipping his pants. “His penis was erect, and he forced her to put it in her mouth,” Davis said, but he didn’t ejaculate.

Then he got back into the driver’s seat, Davis said, and headed down a dead-end street. He allegedly drove over a curb and toward an abandoned school.

“He pulled between a building and a tree, got out of the car, opened the back door, made her get out of the car, told her to bend over, and he put his penis in her vagina,” Davis said. “When he let her go, he said, ‘Have a nice night,’ and she walked off.”

The police computer system later showed that Holtzclaw had run S.E.’s name twice on May 7 and twice on May 8, the day after.

“I thought he was running her to see if she reported him,” Davis said.

On May 26, Holtzclaw allegedly stopped a woman known as C.J. and put her in the backseat of his car — asking about drugs, running her name, etc. He’d done this before with C.J., in March, but let her go before any misconduct occurred, Davis said. This time, during the search, “he fondled her boobs and he put his hand down the front of her pants and fingered her vagina,” Davis said.

When C.J. was later interviewed by Davis, the woman, like F.M., began crying.

In court on Wednesday, Davis also revealed that a DNA sample was found on a triangle-shaped flap on the inside of Holtzclaw’s uniform pants, near the zipper. Seven of the eight victims were tested against the sample, along with Holtzclaw’s girlfriend. The DNA did not match any of them.

When he cross-examined Davis, Holtzclaw’s defense attorney Scott Adams said, “it could also be that Mr. Holtzclaw could have cheated on his girlfriend and not wanted to tell anyone.” Davis confirmed this was a possibility. But the prosecutor later redirected the question.

“If that was the case and [he] had cheated on his girlfriend and didn’t want that to be uncovered, certainly he lied to you, because you asked specifically about that,” Assistant DA Gieger said.

“Correct,” Davis said.

In an interview with a local station later on Wednesday, Adams presented an alternate theory:

“It could be as simple as someone at the cleaners grabbing his pants and transferring the skin cells,” he told KOCO. “None of what the detectives said surprised me. They can make anything look sinister, and that’s what they attempt to do.”

“The facts are that there is no DNA linking him to any of these women as far as was presented in the hearing,” the family said in their statement.

In his closing argument at the hearing, Adams suggested that he didn’t have ample time with the prosecution’s discovery materials, and that Holtzclaw — being held in solitary confinement under $5 million — could not adequately defend himself either. The judge reduced Holtzclaw’s bond to $500,000, based largely on Holtzclaw’s lack of criminal record and under the conditions that he stay with his parents under house arrest, wear a GPS tracker, and not contact any of his alleged victims. He left jail on Friday afternoon.

Oklahoma NAACP President Anthony Douglas first learned of the Holtzclaw case on Thursday, Aug. 21 — the day Holtzclaw was arrested — while at a rally showing support for the people of Ferguson, who were still protesting the death of Michael Brown and the Ferguson police’s display of force in response to their protests. Local media began calling for Douglas’ reaction to the Holtzclaw case. On the heels of the Ferguson, Douglas prepared for a storm. But it never came.

“Where’s my media and where’s my women’s groups?” he asked BuzzFeed News on Thursday.

Douglas said Ferguson had no impact on how he approached the Holtzclaw case, but the media spectacle in Missouri made him examine how the media was “not providing the coverage as it should be brought to light.” Douglas’ contribution to the mostly local coverage has been to call for the Department of Justice to “look at whether this fits a pattern of racial profiling.” The president views Holtzclaw’s targeting of black women as a hate crime.

“[People] have not grasped the severity of the case,” Douglas said. “I don’t look at this gentleman as a sex offender or a rapist. I look at him as a racist, because he racially profiled and targeted African-American women.”

Garland Pruitt, NAACP Oklahoma City Branch president, suggested that cases involving abuse simply don’t get the kind of attention that cases involving death do. “How many folks have been beat down […] that didn’t die at the hands of the police officers? That did not get the recognition that’s possibly needed?” he said.

The local NAACP also disagrees with how the neighborhood where Holtzclaw’s alleged attacks occurred has been portrayed. During the Wednesday hearing, a detective said there was an unknown man lying in T.B.’s yard on a day Holtzclaw dropped by her house. The prosecutor asked the detective if that was an “unusual occurrence in this part of the city.” The detective said no. At another point in the hearing, in addressing the victims’ struggle to remember specific dates, the prosecutor said, “These people don’t live by calendars.”

Douglas challenged that assumption, saying the northeast side is a low- to middle-class neighborhood of “hardworking families” and professionals, while acknowledging “every neighborhood has issues with drugs.”

“They attempt to paint this as a depressed area,” he said. “That’s not the truth.”

The neighborhood’s real struggle going forward, Douglas said, will be having trust in the police — something the chief of police himself acknowledged in a press conference last week, when he said he hopes the community “realizes that our officers, 99.9% of them are trustworthy.”

But even outside Oklahoma City, many people are talking about Oklahoma City and Holtzclaw in the same sentence as Ferguson and Darren Wilson.

“The only thing that I can say is that anytime a police officer anywhere in the country makes a mistake or indulges in misconduct, police officers around the country are held in that same light regardless of the circumstances,” Oklahoma City Police Department spokesman Capt. Dexter Nelson said in an email. “OKC is not Ferguson, Missouri and there is no comparison. Our departments are very different in many ways. Our department and community demographics are different, and our working relationship with the community is different.”

This is certainly true — the population of Ferguson is not even 4% that of Oklahoma City. And while black police officers make up only 6% of police forces in both cities, only 15% of Oklahoma City residents are black, compared to 67% of Ferguson residents.

Oklahoma City Police also opened an investigation the day the first report about an unknown officer came in, and closed it within two months of identifying Holtzclaw as a suspect. They kept the investigation quiet for that entire time, in an effort to make sure the women bringing forward allegations weren’t influenced by media reports or neighborhood gossip.

Still, both incidents of violence deeply affect black communities. And with them occurring so close together, the comparisons have been unavoidable, particularly in light of how people have rallied around the alleged offenders.

On Aug. 24, Holtzclaw’s sister, Jenny, created a GoFundMe page for her brother (“JUSTICE FOR DANIEL HOLTZCLAW”) two days after a judge set his initial bond at $5 million in cash. On Aug. 26, GoFundMe verified the page, making it fully visible to the public. On Sept. 2, GoFundMe pulled the campaign, which had raised more than $7,000.

“GoFundMe reviews campaigns that have received a high number of complaints on a case-by-case basis,” a customer service representative wrote in an email to Jenny. “In this particular case, your campaign contains subject matter that GoFundMe would rather not be associated with.”

Jenny was livid. “PEOPLE DO BELIEVE IN DANIEL’S INNOCENCE and not into the media hype that everyone is believing into!!!!” she wrote in a statement. “It looks like clearly they have caved into the media hype and social pressure rather than stand on the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty.”

GoFundMe is still hosting a campaign to raise funds for the Ferguson officer who shot Michael Brown. When asked what distinction it drew between the two campaigns, GoFundMe did not respond, only saying it conducted “an internal content review.”

In the meantime, Jenny has become the family spokesman on the Facebook page, where she sells T-shirts, deletes negative comments, and shares messages from Holtzclaw’s friends and family. One of the recent messages appears to hint at what’s to come as Holtzclaw’s case inches toward a trial.

Someone claiming to be Holtzclaw’s childhood friend who attended the court hearing Wednesday later wrote about how “disgusted” he or she was by the lack of “physical evidence” presented:

“The media is giving one side of the story and leaving out major details like the fact that all of these women are active drug addicts and prostitutes from the same area of town who ‘happen to not know each other.’”

It appears the prosecutor is prepared for more reactions like this one. At the hearing on Wednesday, Gieger told the judge he could see “what’s coming for these ladies … ‘You’re liars. Look at your lifestyle.’”

Sheriff Deputy Gerald Nuckolls Arrested for Sexual Assault and Battery

An Oklahoma sheriff's deputy resigned Wednesday after two women said he sexually assaulted them at a Tulsa County home while he was on duty, a case that comes on the heels of a state trooper and an Oklahoma City police officer being arrested on sexual assault complaints.

Tulsa County Deputy Gerald Nuckolls, 26, was arrested late Tuesday on complaints of sexual assault and battery and indecent exposure. He remained jailed on $125,000 bond Wednesday. It's not clear from jail records whether Nuckolls has an attorney.

Undersheriff Tim Albin said Nuckolls resigned after being placed on unpaid leave. Nuckolls hasn't been formally charged, and authorities believe there could be at least five more women who have yet to come forward.

"It's been a real punch in the gut for us," Albin said at a news conference. "There's a real sense of betrayal for us on this."

Nuckolls' arrest came a day after Oklahoma State Trooper Eric Roberts was arrested on complaints of kidnapping, rape and other crimes. Roberts is accused of sexually assaulting three women while on duty.

Roberts' arrest came just weeks after Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting at least eight women while on duty. Holtzclaw has pleaded not guilty to 16 felony counts, including rape and sexual battery.

The recent allegations against the three lawmen are among similar complaints lodged against Oklahoma officers in the past decade.

In 2011, Delaware County commissioners agreed to a $13.5 million settlement after 15 women complained they were raped, sexually assaulted or fondled by their jailers. In 2009, Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess was sentenced to 79 years for sexual assaults against an inmate and the county agreed to pay about $10 million to settle claims by more than a dozen women.

Former Latimer County Sheriff Melvin Holly was sentenced to 25 years for sexual crimes, including abusing a 19-year-old inmate in 2004 and warning her she would "end up dead somewhere, floating face-down in a river" if she ever reported what happened to the authorities. A settlement with at least 16 women totaled around $670,000.

Nuckolls, who had worked for the sheriff's office for two years, showed up at the women's home investigating a 911 hang-up call about halfway through his shift, according to his arrest and booking report.

The report alleges that Nuckolls pulled one of women inside his patrol SUV and eventually exposed his genitals to her. The woman said she began rubbing the officer's genitals because he told her that it would keep her boyfriend out of jail.

Nuckolls then got out of the SUV and asked a second woman at the house asked if she had drugs inside, according to the report. The woman gave Nuckolls permission to search her residence and he found nothing. She told detectives that Nuckolls urinated near her garage and then went inside the garage with her, making small talk.

Nuckolls asked the woman about her tattoos and if she was wearing a bra, and then reached up and pulled her dress down, according to the report.

The woman said she pulled her dress up as Nuckolls began to touch his genitals. She said she told him she wanted to leave and go back inside and that Nuckolls said he would return when his shift ended at 8 a.m.

The report says Nuckolls told detectives who interviewed him that "he has a problem for pretty women" and that "sexual type activity has occurred" during encounters with about six women on traffic stops or calls.

Missy Iski, director of programs and counseling at DVIS/Call Rape in Tulsa, said Wednesday that potential victims may be reluctant to come forward especially when a law officer is alleged to have been involved.

"When you add a law enforcement person, it even adds to the difficulty," Iski said.

State Trooper Eric Roberts Arrested for Sexual Assault

Eric Roberts was arrested Monday in Creek County. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was jailed in connection with sexual assault and kidnapping complaints.

The leader of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said his agency is sickened after the arrest Monday of a trooper on sexual assault complaints.

Trooper Eric Roberts, 42, was arrested Monday morning on complaints of sexual assault and kidnapping. Roberts was booked at the Creek County jail, officials said.

Roberts was released from jail Monday afternoon on a $66,000 bond. Formal charges had not been filed against the trooper as of Monday afternoon.

An investigation was being presented to the Creek County district attorney’s office for review, Col. Ricky Adams, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s chief, said during a news conference Monday afternoon in Oklahoma City.

“This particular matter sickens us as an agency,” Adams said.

The incident marks the second high-profile case during recent months in which a law enforcement officer was arrested on sexual assault complaints.

Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was arrested last month and accused of groping and raping several women while he was on duty in northeast Oklahoma City.

In Roberts’ case, the patrol started an internal investigation after a woman called the agency on July 23 and reported that she had been sexually assaulted during a traffic stop, Adams said.

Roberts was suspended with pay July 24.

The patrol is moving forward with termination proceedings, Adams said Monday.

Patrol investigators have identified three potential victims, Adams said.

Two of the women are considered victims of rape, and the third woman is considered a victim of inappropriate physical contact during a traffic stop, patrol Capt. George Brown said in an email.

The incidents in question occurred during the daytime in the Sapulpa area, Adams said, adding that during all of the stops, Roberts turned off his camera and his microphone.

In a civil lawsuit filed last month, one woman accused Roberts of raping her during a traffic stop in July.

The lawsuit alleges that Roberts made the woman get into his patrol car and asked her inappropriate questions before driving to a secluded area and assaulting her.

The lawsuit was later amended to include a second woman who came forward with similar allegations.

The woman contended that Roberts made inappropriate comments to her during a traffic stop in July and drove her to a secluded location where he sexually assaulted her, according to an amended complaint.

Attorneys’ responses

Roberts’ attorney, Gary James, said the criminal allegations that were made against his client are untrue.

“He is innocent of these allegations,” James said.

Kevin Adams, an attorney for the women in the civil case, said Monday “it’s about time” Roberts was arrested.

“They allowed a guy that they have alleged is a serial sex offender to be out on the street for two months,” Kevin Adams said.

“To me, that’s a little troubling. I think if he would not have been law enforcement, that they would have arrested him a long time ago.”

James suggested Roberts did not receive special treatment.

“I think he was actually probably treated harsher because he was law enforcement,” James said.

Another case

Roberts is the second trooper in a little more than a year to face sexual assault allegations.

Last year, former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Patrick Venable pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated assault and battery after he was accused of having sex with a woman he stopped while on duty.

Cpl. David Harrison Arrested for Domestic Assault and Battery

A Tulsa Police officer was booked into the county jail on a complaint of domestic assault and battery early Wednesday.

According to an arrest report, Cpl. David Harrison, 51, was arrested at his home late Tuesday after a woman told officers Harrison hit her with a liquor bottle and sexually assaulted her during a struggle. The report also says the woman claims Harrison defecated in the bed, pushed her in it and then ordered her to clean it up.

Police spokesperson Officer Jill Roberson said Harrison has been suspended with pay pending an internal investigation.

A police report states a "sexual assault investigation" has been submitted to the Tulsa County DA's office for review.

Roberson says David Harrison has been an officer with their department since 1988.

Jail records show he has a May 14 court appearance set.

Corrections Officer Kelvin Grisales Charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault

Hartford police said they have obtained another arrest warrant for a Hartford correction officer who was arrested last month after a sexual assault was reported on Huyshope Street in Hartford.

Officials from the state Department of Correction said Kelvin Grisales was placed on administrative leave after being arrested in March and charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, first-degree threatening, weapons in a motor vehicle and facsimile firearm.

Hartford police said they have obtained another arrest warrant for Grisales in connection with a case in March 2012. Police said it is the result of an investigation of several sexual assaults in Hartford and New Britain.

"The circumstances of this investigation are consistent with a serial pattern evident in Hartford and New Britain," a news release from police states.

Police said Grisales has been charged with first-degree assault, first-degree sexual assault, patronizing a prostitute from a motor vehicle, first-degree kidnapping, impersonation of a police officer and second-degree threatening. Bond was set at $100,000.

During a bond hearing held earlier this month, prosecutors said three more sexual assault cases might be brought against him. Police said there is one possible sexual assault case in New Britain and another in Hartford.

The incident that led to the original charges happened on March 27 and that case, along with evidence from the scene, led police to suspect Grisales in a several other sexual assaults they were investigating.

Police said they responded to a report of sexual assault with a firearm displayed just after 12:30 a.m.

At first, the victim told police that she was walking on Wethersfield Avenue to go buy cigarettes when Grisales drove up in a blue SUV, pulled a gun on her and ordered her to get in the car.

He brought her to a “quick mart,” ordered her to buy a condom, then ordered her to get back in the car and sexually assaulted her, she said, according to police.

When police asked the victim why she did not ask for help in the store, she said she was scared and feared Grisales would but her.

Police located a car matching the description the woman gave police, took Grisales into custody and the victim identified him as the person who assaulted her.

When the victim went to the police station, she gave a written statement with a different account of what happened, police said.

She said he had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend and said she was going out to make money when Grisales approached her on Wethersfield Avenue and asked where she was going, the woman told police.

She told him she had no particular destination and her told her to get into his car.

They went to the store to buy a condom and discussed a price for sex. She said $40, but Grisales said he’d give her $60, according police. When they got back into the car, Grisales pulled out a gun and demanded a sex act, according to police.

After the assault, she got out of the car, ran toward a vehicle that was running and that is when police arrived, according to police.

When police questioned Grisales, he said the victim flagged him down on Wethersfield Avenue, said it was cold out and asked for a ride to the quick mart, so he brought her to the store. He also told authorities that she had a black eye and he felt bad for her.

Grisales told police the victim talked to him about her downfalls with heroin, a falling out with her father, getting kicked out of her apartment and said her boyfriend was mean and would not kiss her, so Grisales kissed her on the cheek, according to the court documents.

He then went on to say that the victim bought the condom and the sexual acts were consensual.

Then, the woman asked Grisales for $60 for the sex and said she had to buy heroin, he said.

He went on to say she threatened him and began reaching in his pockets, so he grabbed his son’s BB gun from under the passenger seat and put it in his lap because he was in fear, according to court paperwork.

Then he told the victim to get out of the car or he could drive her home, but she became more aggressive and he ordered her out of the car, he told investigators.

After ordering her from the car, he felt bad and drove back, but saw her speaking with police, he told officers.

Grisales has worked at Hartford Correctional since September 2008.

Court records state that Grisales pleaded not guilty to the March case and he is being held on $750,000 bond.

Hartford police are asking any other victims to call police at 860-757-4041.

Detention Officer Keenan Notae Arrested for Rape

A DeKalb County detention officer is behind bars on accusations that he sexually assaulted a woman after getting her drunk, officials said.

Keenan Notae, 24, was arrested Wednesday by DeKalb County police and charged with rape, sodomy and furnishing alcohol to a person under age, authorities said.

On Jan. 14, DeKalb police spokesman Capt. Stephen Fore said he went on a date with a 19-year-old woman and gave her alcoholic drinks.

"She became intoxicated and was sexually assaulted by Notae," Fore said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Investigators found forensic evidence from the incident that they sent for testing.

Fore said the results authorities received Wednesday "were conclusive enough for detectives to obtain arrest warrants for Notae."

Notae was arrested at his home Wednesday night, police said.

A DeKalb detention officer for three years, Notae is being held at the jail in lieu of $500 bond, according to jail records. He is segregated from the general population, DeKalb County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Cynthia Williams told the AJC.

Notae has also been suspended without pay pending the results of the investigation, Williams said.

He is scheduled to make his first court appearance this afternoon.

Officer Meekos Evans Accused of Sexual Assault

Meekos Evans is out of jail after posting a $10,000 bond. He still is due in court Monday, April 21.

Memphis police officer Meekos Evans, the focus of an internal affairs investigation into an alleged traffic stop sexual assault of a female motorist in Whitehaven in February, was arrested Thursday afternoon.

Officer Evans is facing one charge of sexual battery. He joined the Memphis Police in 2011 and was assigned to the Raines Station.

Officer Evans has been on non-enforcement duty since the complaint against him was made. He is due in Shelby County General Sessions Court on Monday, April 21.

The female victim said she was driving down Raines Road in February and the officer pulled her over. He told her he couldn't see her license plate, took her identification, and told her he would have to give her a citation unless she did something for him.

She said the officer told her to drive behind some apartments. She did and when they got there, she said he told her to get into the back of his patrol car and show her breasts.

The female victim said she didn't want to expose herself but eventually gave in. She said the officer touched her and then he told her to leave. She said her three-year-old son was alone in her car when it happened.

"Unfortunate situation and my heart goes out to the victim," said Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong, who reacted to the arrest.

The police director said Evans has been placed on paid leave and there will be an administrative hearing to determine whether he'll be fired.

"In this particular incident this officer clearly demonstrated that he probably had no business ever wearing a badge in the first place and that's something we'll deal with down the line," Director Armstrong said.

Mayor A C Wharton had not heard about the arrest when FOX13 News caught up with him Thursday evening. The mayor said he's reviewing MPD disciplinary procedures.

Officer Evans was the subject of at least two other internal affairs investigations before the latest incident.

"We are looking at trying to find a way to see if there are factors that would predict when a person might become a bad officer," Mayor Wharton said. "That's a priority for Director Armstrong and still a priority for me."

The victim said she was driving down Raines Road when she was pulled over by Officer Evans. She said she was targeted and now she says she's lost faith in law enforcement.

"No citizen should ever have to fear when you see a police officer behind you, especially a police officer on duty," Director Armstrong said.

Former Officer Rex Newport Pleads Guilty to Multiple Felonies

Former Colville Police Officer Rex Newport spent 15 years putting countless criminals in prison. On Tuesday, Newport found out he would be heading off to prison for 29 months himself.

Newport pleaded guilty in February to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including unlawful imprisonment with sexual motivation. The court identified Newport's behavior as reckless and the arrogance he displayed was truly disturbing.

"Your honor, I messed up," Newport said, addressing a packed Stevens County courtroom Tuesday morning. "I'm absolutely ashamed of myself."

Last year a woman came forward saying she was drunk when Newport came into her home, handcuffed and sexually assaulted her while he was on duty. Four other women later said Newport made sexual advances towards them as well. In February Newport accepted a plea deal.

Newport's lawyer argued he's a good man, who made terrible mistakes, but the court argued that Newport, "identified and isolated not just these women and others and used the authority of your office to coerce them into sexual activity for no reason but to satisfy your desires," adding that his actions brought shame to himself and black eyes to other Colville police officers. "With the multiple victims, multiple incidents, I would say the only appropriate decision would be the maximum sentence."

Washington Assistant Attorney General John Hillman said he was pleased with Newport's sentence.

"He's also now a convicted felon, a sex offender who will have to register when he is released from prison, he will no longer be able to carry a firearm or work as a police officer in his state," Hillman said.

After years of putting people in handcuffs, Newport was the one to be handcuffed and taken away to prison. Like all Department of Corrections inmates, Newport will be transported to the prison in Shelton, where he'll be assessed and DOC will determine which prison to send him to. They'll take several things into consideration including the length of sentence, nature of crime and his background.

After Newport gets out of prison, he will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Former Officer Walter Knox Charged with Sexual Assault

A former Mesa police officer was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting two women inside an art gallery he owns in Old Town Scottsdale.

42-year-old Walter Knox says he was floored when police arrested him for sexual assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Knox has not been charged and he says the alleged victims' claims are bogus and it's all a scam.

The owner of Knox Artifacts near Goldwater and Main Street in Scottsdale was arrested at his high end gallery Thursday.

The alleged victims say a handgun was involved.

"Any incident like that is totally out of whack," said Antonio Mona of Casa de Artistas of Scottsdale.

Fellow gallery owners were taken aback by the allegations.

Knox, who wouldn't talk with us on camera, told us off-camera that he was assaulted in a strip club earlier that night, where he says police identification and prior duty weapon were stolen.

He says a man and the two alleged victims, who claimed to have witnessed that attack, came back to his gallery where he says they tried to get him to invest in a project.

In a police report, Knox admitted to having consensual contact with the women.  He showed us photos of the two alleged victims.  Topless, in the gallery and smiling as they showed off ancient artifacts.

Police say they found meth and suspected cocaine in the back of the gallery, something Knox says the alleged victims left there.  He also claims they stole thousands of dollars from him.

According to the police report, investigators staked out the business for about six hours before arresting Knox as the store closed following an art walk Thursday.

The arrest comes as a shock to others in the high-end art community.

"It's a close knit community of very wonderful people who not only promote the arts, but promote the downtown area of Scottsdale," said Mona.

The alleged victims are 28 and 29-years-old.

Mesa police say Knox took medical retirement in 2005 after serving about 10 years with the department.  They add that retired officers get a police ID saying they're retired officers.  They're also allowed to buy their duty weapon.

Officer John T McCavitt Arrested Again for Unauthorized Videotaping

A Peoria police officer who was acquitted of rape charges last week has been arrested again — this time in connection with video recording a different alleged victim without permission.

    John T. McCavitt, 32, of 1710 W. Westaire Ave. was booked Friday into the Peoria County Jail on a felony charge of unauthorized videotaping.

    He admitted in testimony last week that he did not have his alleged victim’s permission in that case to take photographs or video recordings of their sexual encounter.

    But the new arrest stems from a different incident than the one for which he was previously charged, said Peoria police Capt. Mike Eddlemon.

    “We discovered some more information that hadn’t come to light, which led to the new criminal case,” Eddlemon said Friday. “It’s a totally different victim.”

    The evidence for the new case was uncovered during an internal investigation into McCavitt, which commenced after the criminal case concluded. The Peoria Police Department by policy waits to conduct an internal investigation until pending criminal matters against officers are resolved.

    McCavitt was taken into custody at 7:35 p.m. Friday in the 5900 block of North Sherwood Place, according to a news release from the department. Eddlemon said the alleged unauthorized video recording took place at McCavitt’s home on Westaire Avenue last year.

    When the allegation of sexual assault surfaced in July, the Illinois State Police were called in to investigate, and McCavitt was placed on paid administrative leave. The trial on that case commenced last week. A jury deliberated for only 40 minutes March 19 after a two-day trial before acquitting McCavitt of a charge of sexual assault.

    His alleged victim was an acquaintance who had been out drinking with McCavitt and his live-in girlfriend on the night of July 16 before the trio ended up back at McCavitt’s home early on the morning of July 17.

    The woman testified she went to sleep in a spare bedroom fully clothed and woke up in restraints before she was sexually assaulted. She claimed she “played possum” while she was being raped out of fear.

    McCavitt, however, told jurors the sex was consensual after she flirted with him, and he stopped and removed the restraints when the acquaintance asked him.

    The day after the alleged rape, McCavitt called in sick for his patrol shift, would not answer the door for Illinois State Police investigators and attempted to delete files from his phone and computer, according to court documents and trial testimony.

    McCavitt remains on leave from the department and will be kept on that status until the new criminal charges are resolved.

Fort Hood Sgt. Gregory McQueen Faces Several Charges

 A Fort Hood sergeant who was a coordinator of the post's sexual assault and harassment prevention program faces multiple charges after he was accused of setting up a prostitution ring involving cash-strapped female soldiers.

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen was charged Friday with 21 counts related to pandering, conspiracy, maltreatment of a subordinate, abusive sexual contact, and adultery and conduct of a nature to bring discredit to the armed forces, according to a Fort Hood statement.

An Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury proceeding, is scheduled for March 20 and 21 at Fort Hood.

It was not clear if McQueen had an attorney Friday, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Haug said. A home number for McQueen could not be found.

Last May, the Army said a sergeant first class was being investigated on allegations of sexual assault and possibly arranging for at least one woman to have sex for money. The Army said he was one of the coordinators of the program at Fort Hood, about 125 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Army officials declined to release his name at the time, but two officials speaking anonymously to The Associated Press because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case identified that soldier as McQueen, who was assigned as a coordinator of a battalion-level sexual assault prevention program at the Central Texas Army post.

U.S. officials had said he was being investigated in connection with activities involving three women, including sexually assaulting one woman. At the time, a Defense Department official in Washington said it was not clear if one of the women was forced into prostitution or participated willingly. McQueen remains suspended from his duties but is free pending trial, Haug said.

Another Fort Hood soldier was court-martialed in the case. Master Sgt. Brad Grimes was convicted in December of conspiring to patronize a prostitute and solicitation to commit adultery, reprimanded and demoted.

The Fort Hood case and others like it have increased pressure on the Pentagon and Capitol Hill to confront sexual misconduct in the armed forces.

The charges against McQueen came one day after the Senate rejected a bill that would have stripped military commanders of the authority to decide whether to prosecute serious crimes.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee. In a Feb. 10 letter, she called on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to turn over case information from four major U.S. bases, including Fort Hood.

The records would shed more light on how military commanders make decisions about courts-martial and punishments in sexual assault cases.

Officer Deon Nunless Charged with Sexual Assault

The woman called 911, seeking help from police after reportedly being assaulted by her boyfriend.

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.”

Former Officer Sergio Alvareza Found Guilty of 18 Counts of Kidnapping and Rape

A former Northern California police officer was convicted of sexually assaulting five women while authorities said he was on patrol.

A Yolo County jury found Sergio Alvarez guilty on Thursday of 18 counts of kidnapping, rape and forced oral copulation, the Sacramento Bee reported. The jury could not reach a decision on 10 other counts, including charges related to Alvarez's alleged attack on a sixth woman.

Prosecutors said Alvarez, while serving as a West Sacramento police officer in 2011 and 2012, targeted drug addicts and prostitutes. He allegedly forced them to perform sex acts in his cruiser, back alleys and wooded lots.

Alvarez showed no reaction as the verdicts were read, the Bee reported. His attorney, J. Toney, had accused the women of lying to authorities and said one of them had a months-long sexual relationship with the officer.

"I hope that our verdict reaffirms the dignity and worth of these women who spoke," juror Linda Bond told the Bee after the verdict.

Alvarez is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4 and is facing the possibility of multiple life sentences.

District Attorney Jeff Reisig called the case a "horrific betrayal of trust" and said that his office wanted Alvarez to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Officer William Ruscoe Arrested for Sexual Assault

A veteran Trumbull Police officer was arrested Monday night by Connecticut State Police in Bridgeport on sexual assault charges.

Details of the assault are not clear, but William Ruscoe, 44, was charged with second-degree sex assault, third-degree sex assault and fourth-degree sex assault, as well as tampering with a witness.

Multiple reports says he’s a 20-year veteran and sexually assaulted a member of the police department’s explorer program, where he served as an adviser for several years.

Cash bond was set at $50,000 and he’s due in Bridgeport Superior Court either Feb. 25 or March 5.

Cpl. Oscar Araiza Charged with Sexual Assault

The Dallas Police Department announced that it has arrested and charged one of its own officers with sexual assault.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown has disciplined Sr. Cpl. Oscar Araiza during hearings on Friday.

According to police, on Oct. 6, 2013, Araiza was off-duty at a bar in Dallas when he unintentionally met a female acquaintance who was accompanied by another woman. All three decided to leave the bar and later drove to Araiza's home, police said.

Araiza's friend decided to leave and left the other woman in the home, according to police. When she woke up, she found herself being sexually assaulted by Araiza, according to police.

The woman stated that she did not consent to any sexual contact with Araiza, police said.

An internal affairs investigation determined that Araiza engaged in sexual conduct with the woman without her consent.

Araiza has been terminated. He had been an officer with the department since 1995.

He was arrested and charged with sexual assault.

Officer La'Cori Johnson Charged with Sexual Assault

La'Cori Johnson, a five-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, was arrested at police headquarters Tuesday, just after he resigned.

He was charged with sexual assault, a second-degree felony.

According to the arrest affidavit, the assault occurred September 9, 2013. Johnson detained a woman and a man in the 9200 block of Larga Drive, near Bachman Lake. He ordered the man to leave, but told the woman she had an outstanding warrant.

The affidavit states he ordered her into the back seat of his marked car and when she began to cry, he said, "Why are you crying? You don't have to go to jail if you do what I tell you to do."

According to the affidavit, Johnson drove his squad car a short distance, to a dead end circle in the 3300 block of Storey Drive, behind an apartment complex. The affidavit said he got into the back seat, took off his gun belt, placed it beside them, and raped the woman.

"With any sexual assault, the victim is going to have lasting damage from that attack; but in this particular case, the damage extends beyond the victim, and it impacts the entire public," said Dallas attorney Kimberly Priest Johnson.

She is not directly involved in this case, but is outraged by it, saying it shakes the public trust.

"You know, the public thinks things like, 'Is this person the only Dallas police officer who has done this? Might there be other victims that Johnson has attacked?'"

The affidavit says Johnson dropped off the victim on nearby Clydesdale Drive and she walked home, telling her mother what happened.

Police said the victim reported the incident to them on October 4. Johnson was placed on leave at that time, according to a statement from Dallas police, and a public integrity investigation began.

An internal affairs investigation started January 24. Johnson was questioned by internal affairs Tuesday.

Then he submitted his resignation, was arrested, and booked in jail.

His bond was set at $25,000.

"When it's by a police officer, on a citizen, while that police officer is on duty, in a marked car, pulling someone over, seeking this out, it's at the top of egregiousness," Kimberly Priest Johnson said.

The Dallas Police Department says La'Cori Johnson was hired as an officer in April 2009 and was assigned to the Northwest Patrol Division.

Officer Douglas Campbell's Charged with Sexual Assault has been Fired

A police officer arrested in October on allegations of sexual assault by a public servant, official oppression and theft has been fired.

Douglas V. Campbell’s indefinite suspension from the Fort Worth Police Department took effect Dec. 23, according to Civil Service documents obtained Monday by the Star-Telegram.

Campbell, 33, is accused of sexually assaulting a prostitute, threatening another that he would take her to jail if she did not engage in sexual activity, and stealing $2 from an abandoned vehicle.

He was indicted on the sexual assault and official oppression cases Dec. 18 and remains free on bail awaiting trial in all three cases, according to Tarrant County court records.
“Officer Campbell, of course, denies those accusations in the indictments and looks forward to his day in court,” said Jim Lane, his defense attorney.

Campbell has appealed his termination. His attorney in the appeal, Craig Driskell of the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, declined to comment Monday.

The department’s special investigation unit began investigating Campbell after receiving information in August from other officers that Campbell was possibly having sex with prostitutes.

Investigators began conducting surveillance of Campbell, then interviewing women with whom he had contact.

One prostitute told officers that Campbell had removed his penis from his pants and had told her to engage in sexual contact with him or he would take her to jail. She said the conversation stopped, however, when another officer drove up, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Another prostitute told investigators that Campbell had touched her and pulled her G-string between her legs, causing her pain, the affidavit states.

According to the disciplinary letter signed by Police Chief Jeff Halstead, Campbell admitted paying for sexual acts at least five times since being commissioned as a Fort Worth officer in 2007.

The theft charge stems from allegations that Campbell removed $2 from an abandoned vehicle that he had been dispatched to, then give it to a female friend whom he had arranged to meet there. The incident was recorded, according to the disciplinary letter.

Campbell also did not accurately report the chain of custody of narcotics found inside the van, the disciplinary letter states.

Halstead said an internal investigation sustained eight allegations of misconduct against Campbell.

“His actions are a disgrace to our department, our city, and the policing profession,” Halstead said in an emailed statement. “I will continue to hold all employees accountable for any violations of policy that jeopardize the level of public trust within our community.”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/06/5464201/fort-worth-officer-charged-with.html#storylink=cpy

Officer Jackie Neal Rapes Teen in Back of Squad Car

Friday morning. On duty. Full Uniform. Marked Squad Car. Officer Jackie Neal, 40, made a traffic stop and then allegedly sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Police said the 11-year veteran pulled the victim over on the south side and managed to get her to stand behind his squad car. San Antonio police Chief William McManus described the events that followed as “unthinkable.”

An investigation was opened after the victim contacted police. According to a statement issued by the department, Neal was taken into custody by SAPD Special Victims’ Unit detectives after officers pulled him over around 2 a.m. Saturday. He was arrested on a warrant for sexual assault, a second-degree felony.

“I am angry. I am outraged. It’s a punch in the eye to the police department, this kind of conduct,” McManus said. “We won’t tolerate it for a second. And I think the swiftness of the investigation and the arrest is indicative of that.”

Neal has been placed on administrative leave with pay, in accordance with department protocol. If indicted, the pay would cease. He was released from custody Saturday morning at 7:25 a.m.

He was suspended in September, according to an agenda for the San Antonio Police and Firefighter Civil Service Commission, but circumstances surrounding that suspension have not been made clear.

Former Officer Kirk Chapman Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Teen

A former Powell police officer accused of having unwanted sexual contact with a woman while on duty in 2011 has pleaded not guilty to the felony charge against him.

The attorney for Kirk B. Chapman entered the denial of the allegations on his client’s behalf at a Wednesday appearance in Park County District Court in Cody. As is the norm at such arraignment hearings, Chapman spoke only to give brief answers to routine questions from District Court Judge Steven Cranfill.

The third-degree sexual assault charge alleges Chapman used his then-position as a police officer to get a Powell woman to submit to sexual contact in September 2011. The charge was filed against Chapman in July 2012 following a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and Park County Attorney’s Office review of the woman’s allegations.

Chapman had dropped the intoxicated woman off at her home after she asked police for a ride from a bar.

What happened later is what makes up the criminal allegations — and what is in dispute.

The woman says Chapman returned about an hour later. She told DCI investigators that Chapman kissed her, touched her body and genitals and rubbed himself up against her while in uniform. The woman said she told Chapman he should return to work before and during the contact, according to charging documents.

As for the allegation that Chapman used his position as a police officer to force the woman to submit, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters noted during a preliminary hearing last year that there are no allegations Chapman threatened the woman. However, the woman told DCI investigators she believed Chapman showed her a knife in his boot to intimidate her and believed he “used his position” to “violate” her, court records say.

For his part, Chapman flatly denied the allegations. He told DCI investigators he never returned to the woman’s residence after dropping her off. During the preliminary hearing, Chapman’s court-appointed attorney, Bill Simpson of Cody, argued the woman’s timeline of events doesn’t match up with police logs and questioned her credibility by noting past mental health issues. Simpson suggested the woman had been angry with Chapman over a misdemeanor, alcohol-related arrest from a year earlier.

Deputy Park County Attorney Sam Krone, however, highlighted a part of the woman’s account in which she recalled Chapman tripped the mic key on his radio while rubbing against her. She recounted to DCI investigators that Chapman had told dispatch he’d bumped his knee. The investigators found an audio recording of radio traffic from that early morning that appears to match the woman’s recollection of events, wrote DCI agent Andrew Hanson in the charging affidavit.

Wednesday’s arraignment had been delayed several times.

In late November, Simpson asked for the hearing to be pushed back. Simpson said he and prosecutors were “currently negotiating a plea agreement” that would take a few weeks to finish.

On Jan. 9, Simpson asked Judge Cranfill to schedule his client for a change of plea hearing — a hearing where a defendant typically switches their plea from not guilty to guilty or no contest as part of plea bargain. It was an unusual request because 1) Chapman hadn’t entered a plea to change, and 2) according to Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric, there was no deal in place. In a March filing, deputy county attorney Krone asked for the change of plea hearing to be scrapped, saying that “the parties have not entered into plea negotiations.”

Simpson didn’t respond to a request for comment about why he originally asked for the hearing.

Now that Chapman has pleaded not guilty, the case will be set for a trial.

Chapman began serving with the department in January 2007 and resigned in November 2011. The Powell Police Department placed Chapman on administrative leave after the allegations were reported in September, and he resigned without returning to duty, Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt has said.

Sgt Jerry Blash Who Filed Ben Roethlisberger Report Resigns

The Ben Roethlisberger sexual assault investigation has led to a Milledgeville (Ga.) police officer’s resignation.

According to ESPN.com, Sgt. Jerry Blash, the only police officer who interviewed Roethlisberger in the investigation, resigned Wednesday following the release of investigation documents to the public. Milledgeville police chief Woodrow Blue confirmed Blash’s resignation Friday.

Blash resigned amid reports that he made negative comments about Roethlisberger’s accuser near friends of the Steelers’ quarterback. In addition, photos released one week after the incident revealed Roethlisberger and Blash together smiling just hours before the sexual assault allegation was made.

Blue stated Blash was involved in the investigation until March 12.

Additional documents released Thursday revealed a 16-year-old told officials that Roethlisberger had made sexual advances toward a friend’s sister, but the woman declined the opportunity to speak with authorities.

The allegations against Roethlisberger continue to haunt the quarterback and the Steelers organization as well.

Roethlisberger could face punishment from the league and from Steelers president Art Rooney II for his actions. The team also could face a six-figure fine as a result of the behavior of Roethlisberger and former Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes.