Arrested, fired and acquitted: Fort Worth sergeant wins job back

A Fort Worth police sergeant who was arrested, fired, and later acquitted over accusations that he stole four pairs of Nike sneakers and a video game seized during a 2013 drug raid, has now won his job back.

The investigation against Sgt. A. J. Williams appeared to be biased and his discipline too harsh, hearing examiner Bill Detwiler stated in a ruling issued Aug. 10.

He reduced Williams’ discipline in the case to a 15-day suspension and ordered the city pay him back pay.

Williams was fired in May 2014, two months after a Tarrant County grand jury indicted him on a charge of theft by a public servant between $500 and $1,500.

A jury found him not guilty on the theft charge in October 2014.

Terry Daffron, Williams’ attorney, said the sergeant is “elated to say the least.”

“He’s been through hell in the last two and half to three years — from patrol units pulling up to his house executing a search warrant, to being arrested, to being terminated, to being tried by a jury of his peers, to being acquitted and then having to go through it all again in the appeals process.” Daffron said.

Sgt. Marc Povero, a police spokesman, said the department respects the appeal process for fired officers and “respect the arbitrator’s opinion.”

The allegations

An appeal hearing was held in the case over five days in late February and mid-April. At issue were four pairs of Nike shoes and a video game taken from a drug dealer’s home during a raid on Oct. 16, 2013.

Williams had said he was given permission by Deputy Chief Vance Keyes, then a lieutenant over the Narcotics Unit, to take the shoes for immediate use as “props” by undercover officers. He took the video game for use in the office during down time.

An investigation by the special investigation unit was begun a day after the raid after an officer involved in the search complained about Williams’ actions. During a search of Williams’ house that same day, police seized the shoes and later the video game from the console of his city vehicle.

Williams said he had taken the shoes home for safe-keeping and had simply forgotten to bring the property to work when he returned to the office the next day.

He acknowledged violating department procedures and general orders by failing to enter the shoes and video game on an inventory log, transmittal form and warrant return.

“It was never an intent to take the shoes,” Daffron said. “They were always props.”

Daffron called the investigation against Williams “a rush to judgment” by the department.

“They jumped the gun,” she said. “They made a decision on what the outcome was and they operated off an an ill-informed assumption.”

Failure to follow orders

In his ruling, Detwiler pointed out that the shoes and video game did not belong to the city, nor Williams, but to their owner “until and unless a court determined otherwise through appropriate forfeiture proceedings.”

He said the verbal agreement between Williams and his lieutenant to use the shoes as props did not absolve Williams’ responsibility to lawfully procure the seized property.

“These omissions constitute falsification of reports, documents and records,” Detwiler wrote. “As a sergeant, (Williams) had a special position as supervisor of his team of officers. In this regard, (Williams’) actions were especially and profoundly egregious and harmful.”

Detwiler also agreed with Daffron’s argument that the narcotics section was a “wreck” at the time of the incident, as evidenced by other omissions and errors on paperwork from the raid, as well as testimony about inadequate training regarding searches and seizures and a history of mishandling seized evidence in the unit.

“While it is likely that the sloppy, unprofessional conduct was systemic and culture defining, and may have contributed to (Williams’) mindset, (Williams), none-the-less, was responsible for his own actions and the actions of his team,” Detwiler wrote.

Disparate treatment

But Detwiler disagreed with the city’s assertion that Williams was untruthful, stating he found the sergeant was “candid and straightforward” in interviews with investigators and during the appeal hearing.

The hearing examiner also accused the city of not being even-handed in their investigation and discipline of a second officer involved in the raid, Officer T. Horn.

Horn had told investigators that Williams instructed him to put two pairs of the Nike shoes into Williams’ vehicle. Williams denied that claim, stating that Horn had asked for the keys to his truck, grabbed the shoes and put them in the truck on his own.

Detwiler stated that Horn gave contradictory statements over the course of the investigation that were “obviously and grossly untruthful,” yet was never accused of untruthfulness. He pointed out that while Williams was fired, Horn was offered a chance by then-Chief Jeff Halstead to enter into a voluntary 30-day suspension.

Detwiler also raised serious concerns about the “neutrality” of the lead internal affairs investigator, Sgt. S. Benjamin.

In testimony during the appeal hearing, Benjamin acknowledged having an “angry” exchange between himself and` Williams eight months before the investigation.

He also testified to having bad blood with Daffron, Williams’ attorney, describing Daffron’s approach as “scorched earth” and stating that he didn’t like how she treated people.

“Incredibly, Benjamin stated that he altered the way he investigated (Williams) because of his dislike for (Williams’) legal counsel!” Detwiler wrote in his ruling.

Detwiler found that Benjamin’s “malicious actions likely caused the department head to significantly differentiate in the charges and discipline between (Williams) and Horn.”

Benjamin has since promoted out of the unit upon becoming lieutenant.

“In my 20 years of representing officers, I’ve never seen a more blatant and admitted bias by an internal affairs investigator as in this case,” Daffron said.

With the criminal and appeal matters now behind him, Daffron said Williams is looking forward to return to the department.

“He wanted to be vindicated,” Daffron said. “The nightmare is over. He is excited about moving forward.”

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This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Arrested, fired and acquitted: Fort Worth sergeant wins job back."