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Dallas Police Chief David Brown has fired an officer who drove off while a woman whose children had been kidnapped at gunpoint tried to flag him down.
Senior Cpl. Les Richardson, a 28-year department veteran, was one of two officers Brown fired Wednesday. Brown also gave out a 45-day suspension.
Richardson, 61, had volunteered to cover officers at a burglary-in-progress call on the morning of Aug. 25. While en route, police said dispatchers announced that there had been shots fired and a suspect had rammed a woman’s car in the area where Richardson was driving.
He then drove by a woman who was shouting at him that “That’s him, that’s him, right there.”
“Right here what, baby? I’m on a call,” he said before quickly driving off.
The woman was referring to her ex, Steven Douglas, who had rammed her car with his pickup and then taken two children out of her car at gunpoint.
Hours later, Douglas led police on a chase after they spotted him. After he hit a van, he ran away on foot. An officer who caught up to him and witnesses say Douglas pointed the gun at the officer. The officer fired his gun, killing Douglas, 29.
The children had been given to a family member and were unharmed.
Richardson was placed on administrative leave after the woman told investigators what happened.
The department released dash cam video of the incident, which also shows him smoking a cigarette in the patrol car.
Richardson’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brown also fired Leroy Sharp, a southwest patrol officer, for taking 121 days off work with permission last year. Sharp left work early March 21, saying he was sick. He later said he would need to be off work for awhile.
Sharp’s initial leave of absence was approved through July 2013, but his commanders denied a subsequent request. Sharp still didn’t show up to work.
And Officer Doyle Wynn was suspended 45 days for failing to fill out a domestic violence report on Nov. 5, 2013, for a woman who had “visible injuries,” police said. Wynn took the woman back to her home while the suspect was still there and waited while she got her personal property, police said.
While Wynn was under investigation, a supervisor caught him sleeping in his squad car Dec. 20, 2013, after he had been dispatched to a theft in progress call. The supervisor tapped on the window and told him to go to the call, which he arrived at 37 minutes after he had been dispatched.
All three officers have the right to appeal their discipline under civil service rules.
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/officer-fired-for-driving-by-pleading-woman-whose-children-had-been-kidnapped-disciplines-two-others-in-separate-incidents.html/
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/officer-fired-for-driving-by-pleading-woman-whose-children-had-been-kidnapped-disciplines-two-others-in-separate-incidents.html/
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