Friday, November 26, 2010

IMPD Brass Cleared In Scuffle With State Trooper

An investigation into the confrontation between a state trooper and IMPD Deputy Chief William Benjamin in Benjamin's office at IMPD headquarters has cleared Benjamin and Maj. Chris Boomershine of any wrongdoing. State Police, however, have suspended Master Trooper Wayne Billings for two days as a result of his action last August according to WRTV's Jack Rinehart. Billings went to Benjamin's office and accused him of leaving messages with him about a woman with whom he was personally involved. Benjamin had no idea who Billings was when he entered his office and confronted him with the allegations. Dressed in plain clothes, Billings told Benjamin he was a state trooper but did not produce his badge. When Boomsershine attempted to detain him for further questioning, he revealed he was armed. Billings was handcuffed and detained until state police investigators arrived. After he was detained, IMPD officers found his badge, as well as a tape recorder he had on his person recording the confrontation.

Fox 59 News' Russ McQuaid played the recording of the confrontation recorded by Billings during this evening's news broadcast, which confirmed the substance of earlier accounts that suggested Billings and not Benjamin or other IMPD officers had acted inappropriately. IMPD officers are upset State Police sat on the findings of their investigation for weeks and waited until the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to report on its findings in hopes the story would be lost among other holiday news coverage. Sources say a woman with whom Billings was having an affair used an I-Phone application to disguise her voice when she left messages with Billings instructing him to go see Benjamin. IMPD officers are extremely upset that Public Safety Director Frank Straub, who has been highly critical of the behavior of some on the police force, refuses to clear IMPD officers of wrongdoing in the matter despite the State Police findings.

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