THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200267
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Police Department internal affairs investigators found no evidence that officers intentionally delayed or hampered two theft cases involving the sons of three Chesapeake officials, according to a confidential report prepared for the City Council.
However, the report said five officers were disciplined ``as a result of other findings concerning the actions and/or omissions of the officers in their respective handling'' of the cases, according to Chesapeake police Chief Ian M. Shipley Jr.
Shipley advised the council that there was a ``substandard investigation'' in both theft cases but provides few details of the shortcomings in his report, obtained Monday by The Virginian-Pilot.
The report, totaling about 10 pages, summarizes the department's 1,500-page internal affairs investigation. It was prepared at the request of City Council, which meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. If the council decides to discuss the issue again behind closed doors, it will be the second meeting held to discuss the investigation since Friday night, when the council spent 3 1/2 hours questioning Shipley.
The City Council asked City Attorney Ron Hallman to gather more information on the Police Department's internal investigation into whether there was a cover-up.
``Our city, our families, and our Police Department are all at stake here,'' said Mayor William E. Ward last Friday after the meeting. ``We are very concerned about this matter.''
Two 1994 thefts, for which the sons of Councilman John W. Butt, sheriff's Capt. William Brickhouse and police Capt. William L. Spruill - Chief Shipley's administrative aide - have been charged, are the focus of the investigation.
The first theft involves the October 1994 theft of $160,000 in motorcycles, ATVs and other merchandise from Given Honda of Chesapeake. That case ended in the arrests of at least 10 people, including Alan Keith Butt, the 27-year-old son of Councilman Butt; and William Jeremy Brickhouse, the son of sheriff's Capt. Brickhouse. Both are charged with receiving stolen property.
The second case was the November 1994 theft of an all-terrain vehicle from the home of Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr., a case that resulted in William Lawrence Spruill Jr., 23, being charged with grand larceny and breaking and entering.
The only officer previously identified as having been reprimanded in the internal investigation was Capt. Spruill. But Shipley's report identifies four other officers who have been reprimanded for their roles in the investigations. They are:
Capt. Edward W. White, former commander of the criminal investigations section.
Capt. J.E. Saunders.
Detective Ira T. Galbreath.
Lt. Kenneth R. Kumm.
Spruill and Galbreath both received permanent written reprimands for their roles in the investigations. Saunders, White and Kumm received written reprimands that will be expunged from their personnel file in a year, city officials have said.
All of the officers have told Shipley that they are willing to come before the council. None of the officers filed grievances contesting their reprimands, city officials said.
A key question in the internal affairs investigation involved whether Capt. Spruill leaked information to his son that would have potentially undermined the investigation, according to Shipley's report.
The chief's report draws no conclusion because ``statements of those involved conflict.''
Shipley writes that ``the matter of whether or not there was a disclosure of the informant's name has never been resolved.''
Last August, Shipley wrote that he received a call from Nance, who said he was concerned the investigation into the theft of his son's ATV was stalled.
Shipley wrote that Nance had told him that a co-defendant in the case - Sean Devinney - had had his life threatened by Spruill Jr.
Further, Nance said that Spruill Jr. found out from his father that Devinney was talking to police about Spruill Jr.'s role in the theft. Nance also told Shipley that Capt. Spruill had received that information from Capt. White, the report said.
``Vice Mayor Nance further stated that he had been told by an unnamed Virginia Beach Police Department supervisor that he would most likely be unsuccessful in obtaining prosecution in Chesapeake because the suspect was Capt. Spruill's son,'' wrote Shipley. ``The Vice Mayor indicated that he did not know if any of this information was true - he was just passing it on for my discretion and action I deemed appropriate.''
Throughout his report, Shipley writes that he tried to move the Nance case forward while also initiating the internal investigation.
At the same time, Shipley said he contacted the FBI and asked them to see if ``any member of the Chesapeake Police Department was involved with any criminal wrongdoing.''
In early October last year, Shipley said officers from internal affairs briefed agents of the FBI about the case. Later, Shipley said, an FBI agent stated that he saw ``no indication of the jurisdiction for the FBI.''
To avoid any appearance of conflict, David L. Williams, Chesapeake commonwealth's attorney, has recused his office from all three cases. Kenneth A. Phillips, a Suffolk assistant commonwealth's attorney, has been assigned as the special prosecutor for the case.
In the conclusion of the report to the council, Shipley reports the opinion of the case's special prosecutor whether some of the parties involved - Spruill, Galbreath and Brickhouse - had committed criminal acts.
``It is my opinion,'' wrote Phillips, ``that there are no criminal charges that can be brought against either of the above individuals.''
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT by CNB