Thread: Assault by police officer alleged

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/368475.html

Published: Nov 18, 2005 12:30 AM
Modified: Nov 18, 2005 05:23 AM
Assault by police officer alleged
Wake says it won't prosecute him

Police Chief Jane Perlov won't name the accused.

Sarah Ovaska, Staff Writer
The Raleigh Police Department says that for a year it has investigated a woman's claim that one of its officers sexually assaulted her.
The Wake County District Attorney's Office decided in June not to prosecute the officer. Susan Spurlin, an assistant district attorney, declined to comment further.

Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov confirmed the investigation but did not name the officer, citing state personnel law. The administrative probe, which considers whether the officer violated department rules, will finish in the next few weeks, Perlov said.

Modesta Fernandez Lucas, 23, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said she told police investigators that the officer repeatedly harassed her at her workplace and eventually raped her. Fernandez consented to her name being used for this article. The News & Observer generally does not identify those who might have been victims of sexual crimes.

Fernandez says she was taking out the trash from Mexico Lindo, a Hispanic food store on South Saunders Street south of downtown Raleigh, in spring 2004 when the officer -- in uniform -- cornered her, threatened her and then raped her.
Fernandez, who speaks only Spanish, did not report her rape allegation until Oct. 28, 2004, when she met with internal investigators after another encounter with the officer in which she says he propositioned her.

"I felt scared of the police," Fernandez said about why she didn't report the allegation immediately.

A letter from the Raleigh Police Department confirmed that the investigation began that week, five months after Fernandez said she was raped.

"That really leads to a tough investigation," Perlov said about the time lapse. "Evidence is hard to gather."

Earlier this month, Fernandez fled to Mexico after she said three unidentified men threatened her life for discussing her allegations with a reporter.

The accused officer is an 18-year veteran of the force and a Spanish-speaking master officer last assigned to the detective division. The officer has been on desk duty since Oct. 29, 2004, said Jim Sughrue, a police spokesman.

Lets see an officer with 18 yrs service or an illegal immigrant who is a lawbreaker by the mere fact that she's in the US. Who to believe?