KTVT-11 Report

'Kickstand Scandal" Embroils DART Police In Expensive Sexual Misconduct Investigation

MOTORCYCLE OFFICERS FIRED, DISCIPLINED, INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

2003 "CLUB SUAVEMENTE SCANDAL" ALSO DETAILED FOR THE FIRST TIME

DART CHIEF JUAN RODRIGUEZ "PROUD" OF FORCE

For the past six months, a sexual misconduct investigation known as "the kickstand scandal" has embroiled the Dallas Area Rapid Transit police motorcycle unit in allegations of on-duty sex, extortion and illegal steroid use, according to internal records obtained by CBS-11 News.

To date, DART has fired two of the six motorcycle officers who came under investigation, although for reasons not directly related to the scandal. A third has resigned. DART has disciplined two others.

The investigation involves allegations that a married female corporal, who remains with the department on paid leave, had separate sexual relationships with four of her male subordinates last year and whether a supervising sergeant knew of the conduct but failed to report it. The female corporal alleged that the sex was not consensual; the four male officers said it was. A final DART investigative report obtained by CBS-11 News backs the men.

In either case, the situation has had an impact on taxpayers and public safety. Since the corporal brought her allegations forward last December, DART has spent more than $101,000 in tax money to hire Dallas law firm Hughes & Luce, to conduct a “sexual harassment” investigation of the woman’s claims. Six motorcycle squad officers, including a supervising sergeant, were placed on paid administrative leave for five months, costing at least $102,000 in salary alone. Their absence further stretched an already shorthanded agency’s ability to patrol the region’s freeway commuter lanes and answer crime calls on DART property.

Asked if he was disappointed about the situation and explicit officer testimony about sex, DART Police Chief Juan Rodriguez said, “I’m very proud of the police depa rtment. I’m very proud of the officers. We have a lot of very talented, seasoned officers.

“They have done a great job for the safety of the public,” Chief Rodriguez said. “I’m proud of what they do and proud of what they are doing today.”

SEXUAL CONDUCT AMONG OFFICERS ‘UNDISPUTED,’ REPORT SAYS

Records show the DART investigation began in December 2004 when the female corporal alleged that four of her male subordinates on the squad had forced her on duty to perform non-consensual sex acts, some of them in DART restrooms and facilities. The female corporal also raised a host of other misconduct allegations against the male officers.

In January, DART administrators hired Hughes & Luce to handle only the investigation of her claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The department’s internal affairs division has handled the non-sexual misconduct allegations.

The law firm’s investigation ended this month with a final summary report obtained by CBS-11 News. The Hughes & Luce report concluded that the female corporal willingly carried on separate sexual relationships with the four male motorcycle officers – and most likely initiated them - over a period of several months last year. Records indicate that the relationships ended in about November when the men found out about each other. Weeping in her car, she lodged the allegations the next month during an emotionally turbulent telephone call to a close female friend who also was her supervisor.

The Hughes & Luce report said the woman’s claims that the sex was nonconsensual were “inherently implausible.” It cited her payment of hotel room bills, cell phone records showing she repeatedly called the men while they were off-duty, that she sent electronic photos of herself undressed to some of the men by cell phone, and “consistent” officer testimony about her behavior toward them.

The report also noted that throughout the investigation the corporal and her attorney at the time did not cooperate with repeat ed requests to provide corroborating evidence to support her various claims. During the investigation Hughes & Luce noted that the female corporal was “undergoing counseling, was on medication and had difficulty recollecting some of the events which occurred.” The report indicates that a lie detector test she attempted to take went awry because of the woman's "reported current condition," a reference to medication and stress.

“It is undisputed that (the female corporal) and the officers had multiple sexual encounters,” the report concluded, in part. But the corporal’s “contention that she was forced to be an unwilling participant in multiple sexual acts is inherently implausible…Further, (the female corporal’s) explanation as to why she engaged in multiple sexual encounters with the other officers is similarly implausible.”

The report added that the credibility of the corporal’s allegations of nonconsensual sex was diminished by the fact that she did not complain until months later and continued having sexual relations with one or more of the officers long after the alleged nonconsensual incidents. The female corporal's responses during interviews with Hughes & Luce lawyers complicated their efforts to ascertain the veracity of the woman's story, the report states.

"In that interview, (the corporal) consistently answered 'I don't remember' to many questions which sought facts in addition to her original statement given to us," the Hughes & Luce report states. "Her explanation for this is apparently that a combination of the trauma of the events...and her current medication prevent her from recalling additional infromation as to what occurred."

DART has a pending internal affairs investigation of the corporal that is focused on possible code of conduct violations, including whether she has been truthful. The corporal remains on paid administrative leave. The woman’s current lawyer in the internal affairs matter says she stands by her initial allegations that she was an unw illing participant in sex with the men. Attorney Lance Wyatt also questioned the thoroughness and credibility of the Hughes & Luce investigation, which he said reached pre-determined conclusions to protect DART.

“They are very quick to come to a conclusion and then let’s support that conclusion with evidence,” Wyatt said. “The evidence will support what (the female corporal) had to say, and I think they know that it will support what she has to say.”

DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said the agency “stands by the investigation.”

MALE DART MOTORCYCLE OFFICERS FIRED, DISCIPLINED

The Hughes and Luce report also questioned the credibility of the male officers’ claims that none of the sex occurred on DART property during on-duty hours, acts which could lead to swift discipline or termination. Records obtained by CBS-11 show that the woman claimed sex acts with the men occurred in secured DART facilities, including women’s restrooms along the DART rail line, once at Fair Park during motorcycle training and once behind DART police headquarters.

To a man, they described to investigators sexual encounters that only occurred at hotels and in personal vehicles, off-duty. In one instance, a male officer described to investigators an encounter in the parking lot of a North Dallas synagogue, where the female corporal was working an off-duty security job. But the Hughes & Luce report questioned whether the male officers told the truth about always having sex away from DART property.

The officers only acknowledged having sex with the female corporal “to an extent which seems calculated to allow each of them to avoid discipline,” the report concluded.

“Each stops short of admitting (the female corporal’s) specific allegations of sexual conduct which could cause discipline or termination – namely, conduct while on duty or while at DART premises. The investigation team finds these portions of the officers’ statements not credible. We believe that, more likely than not, sexual activity occurred on duty and on premises as alleged by (the corporal.)”

“This conclusion is based upon logic, the respective demeanors of these witnesses and upon our conclusion that (the corporal) has no known motivation to lie about this issue. She describes conduct which, if consensual on her part, would subject her to significant discipline.”

Despite questions about the men’s credibility, DART internal affairs investigators said they had no evidence to prove they lied about having sex at DART facilities. The department cleared the men of those counts, as well as the squad's sergeant. The sergeant, Michael Oswalt, had been accused of failing to report the sexual conduct once he became aware of it.

Under department guidelines, Chief Rodriguez has the authority to order all of the officers to take polygraph tests. But he did not, spokesman Morgan Lyons said. Through their attorneys, all four of the male officers, and their sergeant, declined requests by Hughes & Luce to voluntarily take lie detector tests, the law firm's report states.

DART internal affairs investigations went on to clear the four male officers of other serious allegations, as well. Those allegations included sexual assault, physical assault, steroid use, and extortion. Sgt. Oswalt was cleared of knowing about, using or failing to report alleged steroid abuse.

Veteran DART motorcycle officers Derek Wayne Johnson and Billy Still were terminated for billing DART eight hours they had not actually worked so they could attend a friend’s funeral. A third DART motorcycle officer resigned during the investigation. Officer Homer Hutchins and Sgt. Oswalt received counseling for using profanity on the job, records show, and remain on the department.

The fired officers, Johnson and Still, are appealing their terminations on grounds that they mistakenly filled out their time cards for working a day they had actually used to attend a friend’s funeral, with permission from supervisors. Their attorney, Phil Burleso n, Jr., said his clients may not have exercised good judgment in their private lives but they violated no department policy that warranted termination.

Burleson said he suspects the firing of Johnson and Still on the time card allegation was a flimsy pretext to get rid of the officers for their private sexual conduct.

The time card issue, he said, “simply could have been cleared up. It happens, as I understand, all the time in the department. It’s a very common issue and that’s why it seems so harsh.”

STEROID ABUSE, OTHER ALLEGATIONS INVESTIGATED, NOT SUSTAINED

Under the heading, “Other Investigations,” the Hughes & Luce report states: “This investigation focused solely on allegations of possible sexual harassment. Accordingly, the investigators have considered allegations of other issues and possible misconduct only to the extent that this evidence was relevant to our sexual harassment investigation. Information about these issues is available to DART.”

When she first came forward with her story of sexual harassment by subordinates, the corporal listed steroid abuse among a host of other serious misconduct allegations. The woman described to investigators a meeting at which she claimed to have seen a number of officers joking around about how they inject each other with steroids.

But DART internal affairs investigators cleared all of the officers after they flatly denied using steroids or joking about them, records show.

Chief Rodriguez said he was satisfied with the investigation into steroid abuse.

“We have closed that investigation. We are through,” Chief Rodriguez said.

None of the officers were ordered to take drug tests for steroids.

"That would be a decision for the executives of DART to be making, not the chief of police," he said.

DART internal affairs investigators also sought to determine whether one of the officers extorted money from the female corporal and physically assaulted her during their relationship. She accu sed another officer of sodomizing her in a DART restroom. According to internal affairs records, there was insufficient evidence to support any of those claims.

Chief Rodriguez said he did not believe the kickstand scandal had an adverse impact on the cohesion and effectiveness of his motorcycle unit.

“No, I’m not concerned about that,” he said. “I’ve met with the officers. I’ve met with the command staff, and we continue to be focused on our mission to provide services to the public.”

Chief Rodriguez said he had no plans to report the findings of the investigation to his officers or the public.

THE CLUB SUAVEMENTE SCANDAL

The so-called "kickstand scandal" is not the first DART investigation that has sidelined so many officers at once and resulted in firings that have gone unreported to the public.

CBS-11 News learned during the course of its investigation that In late 2003, five other DART police officers were placed on paid administrative leave after they were caught working unauthorized security jobs at a notorious northwest Dallas nightclub called Club Suavemente. The now-shuttered nightclub was well-known at the time for its parking lot homicides and brisk trade in drugs and prostitution.

Department Internal affairs records show that the DART officers were found out during a Dallas police undercover vice sting operation. According to records, informants initially reported that off-duty DART officers were believed to be providing "protection" for the club's illegal activities, and DART set up a surveillance operation to watch the officers work. Chief Rodriguez was present on the night internal affairs investigators rushed into the parking lot and demanded the officers relinquish their weapons.

Internal affairs investigations found that the officers had deliberately deceived supervisors to work early morning security shifts that paid $50 an hour cash. Two were fired in early 2004 for violating department off-duty work policies. But the records do not co ntain evidence that officers knowingly protected illegal activity.

DART police policy forbids off-duty work for businesses that sell alcohol. During the course of the investigation, officers testified that they knew of many other DART officers were similarly working at such establishments, and they named names. It remains unclear whether the investigation expanded.

Asked about the Club Suavemente investigation, Chief Rodriguez said the police department has implemented additional checks of off-duty work applications to insure that officers are following the rules.

He also said the two investigations involving a dozen of the 146-officer department does not indicate an unusual discipline problem on his force.

To comment on this story email: Todd Bensman or Robert Riggs