William Saxer - IA-17-4 - R
William Saxer - IA-17-4 - R
William Saxer - IA-17-4 - R
Internal Affairs
InternalInvestigation
I.A . 17-4
DFC William Saxer
ism,Trus
t
CHARLOT T E COUNT Y SHERIFF'S OFFICE
I.A . 17-4
S u m m a r y o f Original Incident
DFC Saxerfalselydocu mented an official record and then was u ntru thfu lto a
su pervisor wh en confronted with the discrepancy. Based on Sgt.Pressley'sfindings
throu gh hissu pervisoryinvestigation and evidence athand, h e fou nd DFC Saxer
had violated severalpolicies and procedu resand passed allinformationonto his
immediatesu pervisor.
On Janu ary24, 2017, DFC Saxer was notified he was being investigated bythe
Internal Affairs Unit for Falsification o f Official Do c u ments and Untru thflilness.
He was provided with a ConfidentialityofInternalInvestigationsform which he
signed and u nderstood. DFC Saxerwas also provided with a copyofhisrights
( Law Enforcements Officers Rights) while u nderinvestigation.
On Janu ary24, 2017, atapproximately12:50 P.M., I met with Cpl. Hawkins atthe
Internal Affairs office in order to obtain a sworn recorded statement detailing his
involvement in this case.
Cpl. Hawkins advisedon Janu ary3, 2017, whileinmorning review, he was looking
atthereportsfromtheweekend to determinewhich onesshou ldbe assignedto CIU.
While reviewing the reports, Cpl. Hawkins noticed one ofthe cases had a bu nch of
items stolen and a su spect listed. Cpl. Hawkins pu lled that particu lar case and
reassigneditto Det. B u ms in CIU. Shortlyafterthe case was assignedto Detective
Christopher B u ms (hereinafter "Det. Bu ms"), Cpl. Hawkins advised he was
approached byDet, Bu ms. Det. B u ms told h im as soon as h e looked overthecase
he immediatelychecked P awn Finder and fou nd the su spect listed in the case had
pawned several items matching the stolen ones listed in the original report, Cpl.
Hawkins said he knew prior to assigning the case to Det. B u ms that the original
depu ty( DFC Saxer) had pu tin his reportthat P avm Finder had been checked with
negativeresults. Cpl. Hawkins asked Det, B u ms ifthe results wereinP avm finder
at the time ofthe report and Det. B u ms advised theywere. Cpl. Hawkins took a
look atthe information Det. B u ms pu lled u p, and itdid appear to h im as well the
transactions were in the P awn Finder System at the time DFC Saxer said he had
c h e c k e d it.
On Janu ary24, 2017, at approximately1:35 P.M., I met with Sgt. Pressleyat the
Internal Affairs office in order to obtain a swom recorded statement detailing his
involvement in this case.
On Janu ary3, 2017, Sgt. Pressleyreceived an email advising one of his detectives
had checked P awn Finder, and almostinstantlycame u p with a hitforthe name of
the su spect and theitems. Becau se there was a discrepancy, Sgt. Pressleygot with
aP awn Finderadministratorand asked thata qu erybe ru non DFC Saxer'slastlog
inon P awn Finder. Sgt. Pressleywas advised the lasttime DFC Saxerlogged into
orc hecked P a w n Finder was o n Ju ne 24, 2016.
On Janu ary7, 2017, Sgt. Pressleycalled DFC Saxerinto the office to speak to h im
abou tthe situation. Sgt. Pressleysaid he wanted to give DFC Saxerthe benefit of
the dou bt. Maybe someone else on the squ ad had ru n P awn Finder for h im? Or
maybe there was some othersortofhiddendiscrepancyasto wh yhepu tinhisreport
it was checked, wh en itreallynever was? Wh en DFC Saxer arrived at the office,
Sgt.Pressleyshowed h imthereportandsaid"Iasked you to check P awn Finderand
you didn't.""Did you ordid you notcheck P awn Finder?" DFC Saxerreplied"yes."
Sgt. Pressleyasked h im again "Did you check P awn Finder?" Again, DFC Saxer
told h im"yes."
At this point, Sgt. Pressleyshowed DFC Saxerthe printou tfrom the detective wh o
fou nd the information. Sgt. Pressleyasked h im"then wh ywas this fou nd the next
byju st a simple qu eryin P awn Finder?"DFC Saxer answered back "I don't
know, Icou ldn't find anything." Sgt. Pressleysaid he asked DFC Saxer one more
time"Did you check P awn Finder?"He responded"yes." Sgt.Pressleythenshowed
DFC Saxerthe printou tforthe qu eryshowing he hadn'tloggedin since Ju ne2016.
Sgt. Pressleysaid he asked DFC Saxer "T ell me wh y you haven'tlogged in since
Ju ne2016 and you 'retelling me you logged in yesterday?" DFC Saxer pau sed and
said"Ididn'tcheck it."Sgt.Pressleyasked h im wh y, DFC Saxerreplied"Icou ldn't
I NT EGRIT Y- P ROFESSIONALISM -T R U S T P A G E I4
CHARLOT T E COUNT Y SHERIFF'S OFFICE
getlogged in." Sgt. Pressleysaid he then asked DFC Saxer wh yhe didn'tju sttell
h imthat,insteadoflying to hisface 3 times.DFC Saxerdidn'thavean answer. Sgt.
Pressleysaid he then gave ita dayor two and decided to send itu p the chain of
command for policyviolations.
On Janu ary8, DFC Saxercame to Sgt. Pressleyand asked h im what he was going
to do abou tthesituation. Sgt.Pressleytoldh im he wou ldleth imknow, DFC Saxer's
replywas"Well I'vegotsomething to talk to you abou t wh en you decide." A little
while later, Sgt. Pressleyhad Corporal Svend Hansen(hereinafter"Cpl. Hansen")
and DFC Saxer meet h i m beh ind th e W i n n Dixie at 17and Bermont Rd to talk abou t
thesituation. Upon theirarrival, Sgt. Pressleyadvised DFC Saxerhe was going to
docu ment the incident and forward it u p the chain of command for a written
reprimand. DFC Saxerreplied"Ifthat'sthecase you can expect myresignation."
Since this incident, DFC Saxer has been pu ton a Performance Improvement Plan.
According to Sgt.Pressleytherehavebeenseveralinstances inthepastyearofwhich
DFC Saxer hasn't thorou ghly investigated or docu mented things in his reports.
T herehavealso beenissu eswith DFC Saxernotsu bmitting evidence as well. T hese
issu esareallbeing docu mented and handled separately.
Prior to the interview, Det. B u ms was placed u nderoath and the term peiju rywas
discu ssed. Det. B u ms also read and signed the Confidentiality of Intemal
Investigation form. He advised he u nderstood the form and did not have any
qu estionsregarding the context ofit.
Det. B u ms advised the moming ofJanu ary3, 2017, he received a case assigned to
h im byCpl. Hawkins. Det. B u ms said helookedoverthecase and notedthere were
several items stolen so he immediately checked P awn Finder. He entered the
su spects name and the datesgivenfrom theoriginalreport. He was ableto locate7
Ryobi tools which had been pawned bythe su spect, matching the description given
byDFC Saxer.
Iasked DFC Saxerifhe was familiar with P awn Finderand he said"yes." Ithen
askedDFC SaxerifP awn Finderissomething the depu tiesare expected to check
wh en working a complaint ofstolen items. His response was"Ifyou havean item
thatcan be identifiedthen yes, it'sone ofthesteps." DFC Saxersaid"T o tellyou
thetruth,Icompletelydidn'tremember thatstep." DFC Saxerwenton to saythe
firsttimeitentered his mind he needed to check P awn Finderwas wh en Sgt.
Pressleysenthisreportback to him and asked him abou tit. Atthatpoint,DFC
Saxer advised h e went into P a w n Finder and fou nd ou t his ac c ou nt h ad b e c o m e
inactive. He thensaid"1hateto sayitbu titwas a piss poordecision on mypart,a
veryidiotic decision, bu t1ju stwroteinthereportIdid and Ididn'tlocate
anything." Afterhe pu tin his reporthe checked P awn Finderand didn'tlocate
anything he sentthereportback to Sgt. Pressley.
CONCLl J f r CW
Du ring the cou rse ofthis investigation, Ihave reviewed the original complaintand
Sgt. Pressley's memo regarding the chain of events involving DFC Saxer. I have
also obtained all witness statements and su pporting information, along with
Charlotte Cou ntySheriffs Office General Order 3.50(the policygoverning guideiinBsfor
AppropriateConduct/Disi
cplinaryProcedures).
Based on thestatementsprovided bySgt. Pressley, Cpl. Hopkins, and Det. Bu m's
itisclear DFC Saxerviolated policies and procedu res(Falsifying an Official
Docu ment and Untmthfu lness)byhis actions. T h e fact isDFC Saxerdocu mented
in hisofficial ACISS reportthathe checked P awn Finderforthestolenitemstaken
from the victim and no resu lts werefou nd, wh en infact he neverdid. T his is
su pported byDFC Saxer'sown confession, as wellasdocu mentation showing he
hadn'tloggedinP awn Findersince Ju ne2016. T hiswas also notedbyCpl.
Hawkins and Det. Bu m's aftertheyreceived thecase to fu rtherinvestigate.
Det. B u ms told Cpl. Hawkins that he c hecked Pawn Finderand fou nd thestolen
itemsin a matterofminu tes afterreceiving thecase. Det. B u ms saidtheitemshad
been pawned two weeks priorto h im receiving thecase. Knowing sometimes
thereisa delaywith pawn shops entering the information, two weeks is well
ou tside ofthat window. Det. B u ms thou ghtitwas strangetheitems weren'tfou nd
wh en DFC Saxersaid he had checked P awn Finderin his original ACISS report.
Itis also clear DFC Saxer was u ntru thfu l and blatantlylied to his direct su pervisor
(Sgt.Pressley)threetimesbeforefinallytellingthetruth. Sgt.Pressleyshowed DFC
SaxerhisACISSreportandsaid"Iaskedyou tocheck P awn Finderand you didn't."
"Did you or did you not check P awn Finder?" DFC Saxer replied "yes." Sgt.
Pressleyasked h im again"Did you check P awn Finder?" Again, DFC Saxer told
h im"yes."
I NT EGRIT Y- P ROFESSIONALISM -T R U S T P A G E I 10
CHARLOT T E COUNT Y SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Sc ott Cl e m e n s
Sergeant, Intemal Affairs
CharlotteCou ntySheriffsOffice
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