FORT WORTH -- — A veteran Fort Worth police officer who was fired in 2011 over allegations that she falsified time sheets was arrested Wednesday night in connection with the case.
Karen D. Holmes, who had appealed her termination but lost, was indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury Dec. 5 on a charge of tampering with a governmental record with intent to defraud/harm, a state jail felony.She was arrested Wednesday night on a warrant and released from the Tarrant County Jail after posting a $2,500 bail, court records show.Holmes said Thursday that she would confer with her attorney before making any comments.The indictment alleges that Holmes falsely entered on Police Department time sheets that she had worked eight-hour days on 11 dates between April 18, 2011, and May 3, 2011.Holmes was fired in September 2011 after an investigation by the department's special investigations unit.Investigators had observed Holmes coming into work late and leaving early on five days and working anywhere from three hours and 15 minutes on one day to just two minutes on another, according to a disciplinary letter filed with the Civil Service Commission.Despite her absences, the investigation found that Holmes had filled out her time sheets to indicate that she'd worked eight hours on those days.The letter also alleged that Holmes' fuel purchases for her city-owned 2007 Dodge Charger were "grossly disproportionate" to other vehicles assigned to her colleagues in the south division criminal investigation unit. Investigators determined that Holmes had taken the car home several times and used it for off-duty jobs and other personal business, the letter states.Holmes, who had been with the department 29 years when she was fired, was able to retire from the department despite being fired. Whether an employee leaves voluntarily or not has no bearing on retirement eligibility.Holmes is one of several officers accused in recent years of falsifying governmental records.In May 2011, one sergeant was fired, one received a commander's admonishment, and two others avoided discipline -- one by resigning and the other by voluntarily taking a demotion -- over accusations that they had falsified time sheets while working in the jail. The fired sergeant won his job back on appeal this past October after a hearing examiner determined that he believed he had had permission from a supervisor for his actions and ruled that the punishment was too severe, reducing it to a 15-day suspension with back pay.No criminal charges were filed in that case.In 2010, three officers resigned and six were fired for allegedly falsifying traffic tickets to earn overtime pay under a grant program.Eight of the former officers have been indicted in the scandal and are awaiting trial.The ninth, Patrick Aguilar, who served at least two tours in Afghanistan and whose involvement in the grant program had been minimal, avoided prosecution by agreeing to undergo mental-health treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder and permanently relinquishing his Texas peace officer license.
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