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Dallas Morning News - Dallas,T
17 November 2007

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Dallas Police Department, TX

False arrests, misconduct amon

Dallas police investigators looked into numerous incidents about the behavior of Senior Cpls. Al Schoelen, Timothy Stecker and Jeffrey Nelson, but The Dallas Morning News had specifically reported on these incidents:

The allegation: Officer Sean Hensley said Cpl. Nelson attacked a woman in August 2006 after she had been arrested for public intoxication and was handcuffed, sitting in a police car on Fitzhugh Avenue.

What investigators learned: Officer Hensley said Cpl. Nelson was talking to the woman when he became irate, got out of the squad car and climbed into the back seat, where he pepper-sprayed her. "Officer Nelson then grabbed arrestee by her hair and dragged her from the back seat of the squad car and she landed face down on the cement parking lot," Officer Hensley wrote in a statement. He said the woman had done nothing to deserve such treatment.

Cpl. Nelson said the woman, Tina Villa, was cursing and thrashing about when she kicked him in the elbow. He said she ignored repeated demands to stop before he used the pepper spray. He said he didn't recall grabbing her hair and denied throwing her to the concrete.

Cpl. Stecker said the woman was thrashing about in the back seat, that he didn't see Cpl. Nelson pull her hair and that he didn't slam her to the ground. Sr. Cpl. Gayle Kansier said Ms. Villa was intentionally kicking Cpl. Nelson before he used the pepper spray but said she didn't see what happened next in the back seat. She said Cpl. Nelson did not use improper force in "placing unruly prisoner on the ground."

Outcome: Internal investigators found Cpl. Nelson had used inappropriate force on the woman.

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The allegation: Officer Nick Novello said Cpl. Schoelen falsely arrested and jailed Richard Socolof, a male prostitute, for obstructing a roadway in July 2006.

What investigators learned: Cpl. Schoelen said Mr. Socolof had stopped traffic and nearly caused a crash on Cedar Springs Road. Officer Novello said Mr. Socolof was crossing the street in the crosswalk. Mr. Socolof said he was crossing the street, but about 20 feet from the crosswalk. "All I did was jaywalk," he told investigators.

Outcome: Unfounded. Deputy Chief Calvin Cunigan, who oversees the internal affairs division, said in an interview he could not comment on the specific incident.

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The allegation: Officer Nick Novello complained that in February Cpl. Stecker arrested two women for public intoxication when they weren't drunk. Officer Novello also said Cpl. Stecker refused to provide his name and badge number to the women's friends during the early-morning incident in the Lower Greenville area. Cpl. Stecker countered that Officer Novello interfered with those arrests.

What investigators learned: All witnesses seem to agree that the officers got into a shouting match. One of the arrested women and two of their friends say Cpl. Stecker refused to give them his name and badge number, which Cpl. Stecker denies. (No statement was taken from the other arrested woman.)

Cpl. Stecker said Officer Novello got in his face with his fists balled, yelled at him and demanded his badge number. Officer David Waskom largely backed Cpl. Stecker's version of events.

Officer Novello denied balling his fists and getting into Cpl. Stecker's face. Two other witnessing officers agreed with Officer Novello on this.

One officer also said the two women did not appear to be a danger to themselves or others when arrested. As Officer Waskom and Cpl. Stecker took the women to the city drunk tank, Officer Waskom wrote a note to one of the arrested women that said, "I'm sorry, this was not my choice." He later told investigators, it "was probably not the best thing to do as it gave the female the impression that I did not agree with the arrest." He said the women were drunk.

Outcome: Investigators did not determine that any specific rules or policies were broken. "It's 'he said, she said' about what took place," Chief Cunigan said. "It's just two people who disagree on how this should be handled."

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The allegation: Officer Novello said Cpl. Stecker falsely accused Jeremy Greenwalt, then 24, of resisting arrest, evading arrest and felony assault on a peace officer in November 2006 when they responded to a call about a woman screaming for help as Mr. Greenwalt and another man were arguing in the 2500 block of Shelby Avenue in Oak Lawn.

What investigators learned: Officer Novello said he never saw Mr. Greenwalt try to flee. Cpl. Stecker dictated the contents of a police report on the incident to another officer, and the report says that the man resisted arrest and tried to flee.

Regarding the charge of assaulting a police officer, Cpl. Stecker said the police report was accurate, including where it said Mr. Greenwalt intentionally kicked Officer Ramon Rojas "in the right thigh twice," causing him "intense pain" and to fall backward. Officer Rojas said he did not suffer intense pain or fall backward. He said Cpl. Stecker never asked him about his injuries. "I do not know why Officer Rojas gave different testimony of the events before the grand jury," Cpl. Stecker wrote in a statement.

Outcome: Unfounded. A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Mr. Greenwalt on the felony assault charge. Mr. Greenwalt has received deferred adjudication probation on the other charges. The investigation may have resulted in a ruling of "unfounded" in part because Mr. Greenwalt and another man arrested about the same time did not respond to requests from investigators to be interviewed.

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The allegation: Xaveria Seely, a Dallas dental hygienist, accused Cpl. Schoelen of filing an "at-large citation" for disorderly conduct against her in May 2006 and having it mailed to her ex-boyfriend's address after she told Cpl. Schoelen that she did not live there. In January, she found out about the citation and that a warrant had been issued for her arrest because she had failed to take care of it.

What investigators learned: In his written statement, Cpl. Schoelen said that Ms. Seely was "yelling and screaming" when he arrived. He said she told him that she had been living there for about three months and that she and her boyfriend were breaking up. Cpl. Schoelen said he issued the citation "at large," � i.e. by mailing it rather than handing it to Ms. Seely � because he didn't want to "agitate matters." He also issued an at-large ticket to her ex-boyfriend, who was not present when Cpl. Schoelen arrived on the scene.

Outcome: Ms. Seely's version alone was not enough to sustain a complaint. It appears investigators were hampered because no independent witnesses provided a sworn statement. One witness, who lived downstairs, told an investigator in a phone call that the disturbance did not take place outside the home and that neighbors weren't standing around as Cpl. Schoelen described, but that witness never came forward with a sworn statement.

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Dallas Morning News - Dallas,T17 November 2007

False arrests, misconduct amon

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Dallas Morning News - Dallas,T
17 November 2007