HEADLINE: Colorado Springs chief says he'll retire amid evidence scandal

DATELINE: COLORADO SPRINGS Colo.

"This was my decision. I wasn't pressured by anybody or anything like that," Velez said. "Even with everything that's going on, it was still a difficult decision to make. It's difficult because I love what I do. It's difficult because I love the organization."

In April, Velez, 56, announced that thousands of pieces of evidence had been improperly destroyed, sold or returned to owners.

The police department's investigation concluded that the evidence room supervisor, Terry Lauhon, had pressured technicians to purge 134,911 pieces of evidence in 2005, and that they cut corners to meet that goal. Lauhon has been suspended without pay.

More than half of the destroyed evidence involved forgery cases and police said none of the destroyed evidence materially affected some 47 homicide cases dating back 26 years.

The state attorney general's office also reviewed the internal investigation but hasn't released its findings yet. The 4th Judicial District attorney's office is also conducting a probe.

Officers had pushed for a no-confidence vote but the results have not been released.

"It's a moot point now," said Police Protective Association president Sgt. Otto Knollhoff. "It doesn't make any sense at this point to release the final count to the public."

Velez, a 31-year veteran of the department, had said a month ago that he would not step down. But he said he reconsidered because of the scandal, the police vote and the recent death of his mother.

"Lately, it seems I have been at least a lightning rod for some reported issues... By me leaving at this point in time, it would be better certainly for me, but it would also be better for the organization," Velez said.

Some city council members were surprised by his decision and one wondered how important the police vote figured in his decision.

"No person would like to see that from their employees, I'm sure," councilman Bernie Herpin said.

City manager Lorne Kramer, the former police chief who appointed Velez chief in 2002, said he will pick an interim chief in the next few weeks. He praised Velez, saying he had made several significant contributions that have made the city a safer place.

"He led this department through a tremendous growth spurt," Kramer said. "He's well respected in the community, and nationally."

HEADLINE: Gun accidentally fires in evidence bin

BYLINE: PEGGY WRIGHT, Daily Record

MORRISTOWN -- A black-powder, muzzle-loader rifle that was seized during a domestic violence case last year was accidentally fired this morning in an evidence room maintained by the Morris County Sheriff's Office. No one was injured.

Authorities are investigating how the Thompson .50-caliber Renegade rifle was stored into evidence in 2005 while still loaded with black powder and a lead musket ball.

"It should not be loaded and ready to fire in our evidence room," Sheriff's Office Chief Thomas Baxter said.

The Morristown Fire Department responded at 10:52 a.m. to a fire alarm on the fourth floor of the so-called Washington Building located at 3 Schuyler Place. The fourth floor is used by the sheriff's office to store evidence.

The muzzle loader was stored uncased in a bin, and its striking hammer apparently was lightly jostled by the movement of a sheriff's officer positioning another weapon near the rifle, Sheriff's Office Detective Richard Wall said.

The hammer of the rifle, which had to be in a cocked position to go off, struck the cap, igniting the black powder in the weapon and firing the lead musket ball. The lead ball was found, flattened, in a beam of the ceiling of the fourth floor.

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office and Morristown Police Department also were called to the scene.

Peggy Wright can be reached at (973) 267-1142 or pwright@gannett.com.

HEADLINE: Just when you think Hopewell's police issue can't get any stranger

BYLINE: Ray McAllister; Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

DATELINE: HOPEWELL 

Hopewell City Attorney Ted Wilmot was still shaking his head yesterday afternoon.

"It was quite a meeting, quite a meeting," he said, sitting in his office. "Not really heated. But tense. It was definitely tense."

Wilmot was among many observers caught off guard when a speeded-up resolution came before the City Council to order the city manager to fire Hopewell's embattled police chief, Rex Marks.

They may have been even more surprised when the council voted 4-3 to do it.

Councilman Randy Sealey introduced the resolution, saying serious crime has been increasing and police department morale plummeting.

It passed despite objections from three council members who felt this was a personnel matter to be handled privately.

One of the three, Christina J. Luman- Bailey, said yesterday that she had not opposed getting rid of Marks even though she voted against the resolution.

Luman-Bailey said she wanted a delay for diplomatic reasons - because she knew Marks was already on his way out.

"It will be completely finalized by the end of next week," she said. "That was already in process. . . . He was going to resign. There was no doubt about it, but I didn't feel comfortable saying that [Tuesday night]."

It has been that sort of year for Hopewell's police department.

In December, a judge dismissed a drug case because evidence was missing. In January, Marks announced that some employees were being placed on paid leave.

The FBI is said to be investigating. State troopers have been brought in to help patrol the city.

In March, the city's chief prosecutor made public, as part of a case, that drugs and money had been disappearing for years. Tensions between the prosecutor and the police chief have continued to be ratcheted up.

Then came Tuesday.

The council can't fire the chief but controls the city manager, who can. The council also directed him to appoint an acting chief, create a selection process involving the council, and rebuild both public confidence and internal morale in the police department.

Meanwhile, City Manager Alan K. Archer said yesterday that he had not decided how he would handle council's resolution. He said he hoped to have a decision this week or by early next week that would be best for all parties.

Marks was on vacation and could not be reached, either.

Capt. Garry Dixon, in charge during Marks' absence, said he would pass along an interview request but would not provide Marks' cell-phone number.

Sitting in the office of his Appomattox River Peanut Co. yesterday, Sealey said about 25 of the police department's 54 officers had spoken to him about Marks' promotion policies, law enforcement and overall treatment of them. He said the resolution did not involve the evidence-room investigation.

"I've talked to judges, lawyers, police officers," Sealey said. "They all said this has to be done." The department has lost officers and will soon be losing seasoned veterans.

With the election of new council members who took office July 1, Sealey now had the four votes, he said.

Meanwhile, the police department was reacting to the news yesterday.

"It's been mixed, is all I can tell you," Dixon said of the reaction. "I feel uncomfortable talking about it. It's not a done deal, as far as I'm concerned."

Does the captain support the chief? "I'm not going to get into that, one way or the other," he said. "It would be inappropriate because he wasn't there."

Did Dixon have an idea what would happen now?

"I don't have a clue," he said. "That's the honest-to-God truth."

That would seem about the norm in Hopewell these days.

Contact staff writer Ray McAllister at rmcallister@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6333.
His column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Responses may be printed from time to time.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO

HEADLINE: Deputy arrested for selling stolen gear on eBay

A deputy in southwest Iowa was arrested Friday for allegedly stealing firefighter equipment and selling it on eBay.

Bob Davis, 32, is accused of taking helmets, masks, gloves, badges, a printer and other items from the Hamburg fire station late last month.

He was fired Friday from the Fremont County sheriff’s office after some of the equipment was found at Davis’ ex wife’s house, said Sheriff Steven MacDonald.

“We’re supposed to protect and serve people and then somebody does something like this,” MacDonald said. “It’s a black eye.”

MacDonald said his secretary noticed Davis had an eBay document that listed many of the stolen items that the firefighters reported to the sheriff’s office. MacDonald said he logged onto eBay with Davis’ username and discovered most of the items had already been sold.

The sheriff met with Davis on Friday.

“He confessed to it. ... He feels bad about what happened,” MacDonald said. “I knew him for a while, but it was a surprise.”

MacDonald said he does not know how much Davis received for the equipment.

The sheriff’s office will try to contact the buyers and return the equipment to the fire station, he said. Otherwise, insurance may cover the theft.

Davis is still being investigated and more charges may be filed, according to a sheriff’s press release. He is charged with 2nd-degree theft. He had been a deputy in Fremont County since March.

Davis lives in Hamburg, where the mayor and police chief were charged earlier this year with killing seven dogs without the owner’s consent.

HEADLINE: Davie County deputy indicted on embezzlement charges

MOCKSVILLE, N.C. - A grand jury has indicted a former Davie County sheriff's detective on 15 counts of embezzlement involving thefts from the evidence room in the sheriff's office.

Robert Trotter, 36, was indicted Monday. He's free on a $20,000 bond with a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 25.

Trotter is accused of stealing guns, cash and a diamond ring from the evidence room he oversaw for the sheriff's office, District Attorney Garry Frank said.

Trotter was the subject of the State Bureau of Investigation's third investigation into the sheriff's office in the past year.

Trotter, who had been with the sheriff's office since 1990, was fired June 16, two weeks after Sheriff Allen Whitaker had suspended him for what Whitaker had called "alleged criminal conduct."

Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com