2 officers charged with assault fired
By Ray Gronberg, The Herald-Sun
September 14, 2006 10:39 pm
DURHAM -- Police Chief Steve Chalmers Thursday announced the firing of two of his officers in response to findings of an internal affairs investigation into an alleged assault on a cook at a Raleigh sports bar July 20.
The officers, Scott Tanner, 33, and Gary Lee, 38, have been charged with misdemeanor assault by Raleigh police. Their termination was effective immediately, but could be overturned if they successfully appeal to City Manager Patrick Baker.
Chalmers said Tanner and Lee had violated department policy by breaking the law and doing things that brought "embarrassment and negative attention" to the police force.
"These two were involved in what I would determine to be nothing less than a public brawl involving a total stranger, and certainly we feel there was no provocation for that," Chalmers said. "It really failed to rise to the level of what we expect our officers to do."
Chalmers extended a public apology to the cook, Rene Dennis Thomas, and to the community.
Officials "certainly hope this incident has not eroded public confidence in the Durham Police Department," Chalmers said. "The officers involved made mistakes, but that is certainly not indicative of the men and women in the Durham Police Department."
At the same time, Chalmers announced that the internal affairs investigation had cleared three other officers tied to the case, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb and officers Richard Clayton and James Griffin.
The three, though present, "were not actively involved" in the incident, Chalmers said. "Some were in a position to see what occurred, but took no part in it."
The announcements capped an investigation that began shortly after Thomas reported he'd been assaulted by a group of men outside his workplace, Blinco's Sports Restaurant and Bar.
Thomas alleged the incident began after he shouted at the occupants of a truck leaving the property. He and an occupant of the truck exchanged racial slurs, he said. The truck stopped and the man who'd called Thomas the "N" word got out and confronted him.
Thomas told ABC News the man who confronted him poked him in the shoulder, called him "boy" and invited a second man to assault him.
The cook said the second assailant took off his shirt and rushed him, taking a swing at Thomas that prompted the cook to drop to the ground.
Raleigh police have accused Lee of trying to strike and tackle Thomas. Tanner is accused of kicking Thomas after the cook went down.
Chalmers said investigators believe Tanner was the man who initially confronted Thomas.
Chalmers said investigators believe Lee, who'd been riding in another vehicle, was the second man to confront Thomas.
Clayton and Griffin "both said they were there" and saw what transpired, the chief said. Chalmers added: "Things happened so quickly they didn't have the opportunity to intercede or stop anything."
Gottlieb -- whose role in the incident has provoked intense interest because he's the supervising investigator of the Duke lacrosse rape case -- was in a parked vehicle and didn't see what happened, Chalmers said.
The sergeant was told what happened and called the department's District 2 watch commander to report it, Chalmers said.
Chalmers said investigators are confident of their findings. "It was an open-and-shut thing and the statements were consistent," he said. "The only thing we weren't able to substantiate was the racial slur."
Alcohol may have played a role in the incident, but after studying the officers' bar tabs, investigators concluded that "there was no reason to feel they were impaired" to the point of violating the state's drunk-driving laws, Chalmers said.
Thomas didn't return a call seeking comment on Thursday's announcement. Nor did Lee or Raleigh lawyer Thomas Manning, who legal sources in Durham believe is representing him in the ongoing assault case, scheduled for court on Sept. 25.
The only number available for Tanner was a city-issued cell phone. A message left on that Thursday wasn't answered.
Elected officials said they support the chief's action.
"I will have to have to confidence that the department conducted a thorough investigation," Councilman Thomas Stith said, basically echoing the stance taken by fellow members Mike Woodard and Diane Catotti. "Clearly there was enough inappropriate behavior to warrant termination."
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-769877.html
2 Durham cops fired over bar affray
Three other officers, including two involved in the Duke lacrosse case, are not disciplined
Matt Dees, Staff Writer
DURHAM - The two Durham police officers charged in July with assaulting a cook outside a Raleigh sports bar were fired Thursday, Chief Steve Chalmers announced.
Gary P. Lee, 38, and Scott C. Tanner, 33, the two officers who face misdemeanor assault charges after a fight outside Blinco's, have seven days to appeal their dismissals through a city grievance process.
"These two were involved in what I would describe as nothing less than a public brawl with a perfect stranger," Chalmers said. "It really failed to rise to the level of what we expect from our officers."
Chalmers also told reporters at a news conference Thursday that no disciplinary action would be taken against three other officers questioned about their alleged involvement in the Wake County incident. Two of those officers are involved in the Duke lacrosse case.
An internal investigation cleared Sgt. Mark Gottlieb and officer Richard D. Clayton, investigators in the Duke rape case, and James A. Griffin Jr., a domestic violence investigator, department officials said. Gottlieb reported the incident to Durham police the same night but after the officers had left the scene, Chalmers said.
Lee and Tanner are set to appear in court in Wake County on Sept. 25.
Police are not releasing the full report of the internal investigation, citing state law that allows them to keep personnel matters secret. Chalmers said the firings were made public to avoid eroding "the public confidence in the ability of our department to provide services in a fair and impartial manner."
The assault charges came after several people, including current and former police officers, gathered at Blinco's on July 20 to send off a fellow Durham officer who was resigning, Chalmers said in July.
As some of the officers were leaving a parking area behind the bar about 11:30 p.m., they encountered Rene Dennis Thomas, 29, a cook who was taking a cigarette break.
Thomas said shortly after the incident that after a truck carrying some of the men peeled out of the parking lot, he shouted, "Woo-hoo."
Thomas said a man in the truck shouted a racial slur at him and he replied with one. Thomas said the fight occurred after that.
Chalmers said Thursday that department investigators had not been able to determine that any racial slurs were exchanged in an incident that lasted about 30 seconds. The officers involved denied using a racial slur, and they said they didn't hear Thomas use one, either, Chalmers said.
Chalmers said investigators reviewed the officers' bar tabs from the night. He said those indicated that the officers hadn't been drinking to excess, though he wouldn't say how much each officer spent on alcohol.
Chalmers said police officials are satisfied that Lee and Tanner instigated the incident. They don't see a need to wait for a verdict from the legal system, he said.
(Staff writer Anne Blythe contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Matt Dees can be reached at 956-2433 or matt.dees@newsobserver.com.
Staff writer Anne Blythe contributed to this report.
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/486407.html
Was that to "cover" for Gottlieb?
Duke Case: Sgt. M.D. Gottlieb's Resume
[snip]
Update #2: The New York Times said Gottlieb was hired by the Durham Police Department in 1987. Gottlieb said in the statement he was "employed by the Durham Police Department, Durham, NC for approximately 15 years." That makes for a few years of discrepancy.
Sounds rather convenient to me.
Pretty funny. A fight got started but nobody heard the racial slurs that started it.
Gottlieb saw nothing, heard nothing. Right.
And Nodong complains about the Blue Wall of Silence he claims is coming from the lax players? What a freakin' joke the entire lot of them are.
Truly pathetic. DPD is still operating in the stone age.