REDDI call not focus of state probe

WASILLA — The conclusion of an investigation by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation into an incident at the Wasilla Police Department confirms what Mayor Verne Rupright has maintained for months — a Jan. 8 REDDI report regarding the mayor was not the subject of the probe.

As seen in the nearly 150 pages of material released by the ABI Thursday, the investigation revolved around the improper accessing of Wasilla Police Department files. At least one of those files, accessed Dec. 30, 2010, involves a dispatcher — the same dispatcher who handled the mayor’s report every drunk driver immediately REDDI call.

“It’s clear there are some players that are involved in the REDDI that are also involved in the (other investigation),” said Capt. Dennis Casanovas, who heads the ABI. “Over the top or interwoven in all of that are other allegations involving employees of the WPD, honesty, doing welfare checks. There were small snippets of things we were asked to look into and document.”

That could be why the REDDI call was part of the documentation collected during the state’s probe, Casanovas said. Although there has been public speculation for months that the investigation was about the REDDI call, it was strictly focused on the access of files, he said.

“We’re not going to make some leaps at what various people in the city of Wasilla thought or meant,” he said. “The REDDI report was in January and that was handled. The troopers were dispatched but didn’t locate the vehicle. The city of Wasilla police department thought there may have been additional information they wanted to look into. They did that, apparently.”

Rupright has maintained his innocence and said he’s been frustrated about a lack of follow-through on city policy and the refusal of John Novak, a lawyer for the state Office of Special Prosecutions to clear the REDDI call from the other investigation.

Because of that “everybody assumed that it was about that,” he said. “It never was. That was a red herring.”

Because of the other investigation, the city’s hands were tied on what it could and could not talk about, said police chief Gene Belden.

“We proved and showed that the REDDI report was a separate issue, but we couldn’t talk about the investigation,” he said. “That’s a no-no.”

What the city could do was conduct its own internal personnel investigation, which is what Rupright ordered. Interviews for that investigation, conducted by Sgt. Chris Watchus, clear the mayor of any wrongdoing, Rupright said. That report is part of his personnel file, but he allowed the Frontiersman to view that portion of his file.

That internal investigation shows that at 2:42 p.m., Jan. 8, a REDDI report came in from the Mat-Su Borough Animal Shelter reporting that a man identified as the mayor had just left. He reportedly exhibited slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. At 2:46 p.m., dispatch airs the REDDI to Alaska State Troopers only. At 2:52, troopers are called off the REDDI to respond to a report that someone with a felony warrant was spotted at the mini-mart at Wasilla-Fishhook and Seldon roads.

It wasn’t until Rupright returned home that he learned the report was called in, at which time he said he talked to Officer John McNeal and ordered him to come to his home and do a breath test. Officer McNeal never showed up.

“The mayor said he was thinking, ‘When is Chief (Michael) Hughes going to get a hold of me or anybody else involved in it?’” Watchus writes about an interview he did with Rupright as part of his investigation. “The mayor told me he thought that was suspicious, so he said to himself, let’s ride this one out. … Vern found out from a statement the chief made that the chief would have disciplined any officer that came to check on him.”

Watchus also interviewed employees at a local bank and smoke shop that the mayor visited before going to the animal shelter and a mechanic who came to the mayor’s home shortly after to return his truck after being repaired. All said they didn’t notice the slurred speech or smell of alcohol that was reported by the caller from the animal shelter.

As for Officer McNeal, an interview with him says he was concerned for his job or other professional repercussions if he had visited the mayor at his home. McNeal said he was present when the supervising sergeant received word the mayor was reported as a REDDI. About five minutes later, McNeal decided to call the mayor’s house, Watchus wrote. No one was home. Five minutes later, he called back and the mayor answered.

“McNeal said he was a little ticked at the mayor because he knows better (than) to drink and drive,” the report says. “McNeal said he asked the mayor the following question: ‘Vern, you better tell me you weren’t drinking and driving.’ McNeal then said the mayor said, ‘What? Who is this?’ McNeal told me he informed the mayor who he was. ‘Vern, if you get arrested for this you are on your own. We are not going to help you.’”

According to McNeal, Watchus reports Rupright responded: “’McNeal, God damn it, I’m not drinking. Bring your (expletive) PBT over right now and I’ll blow .000.’ McNeal then said he was thinking, ‘OK, I’ll go over there.’” As McNeal prepared the equipment to go to Rupright’s home, he observed then-chief Hughes pull up to the station.

“There is no secret that Kelly (Swihart) and the chief don’t like the mayor,” McNeal told Watchus. “He said, ‘I’m not in the middle of that, but there is no secret about it.’”

McNeal then said he was uncomfortable about going to the mayor’s house because he thought he would bear the brunt of any fallout, according to the interview. He drove around for another 15 to 20 minutes then went back to the station, where he saw Swihart’s wife, the chief and a sergeant whispering.

“I’m not going over to the mayor’s house now because if they think I’m helping him they’re going to crucify me,” McNeal said, adding he thought the powwow may have been an attempt at a set-up.

McNeal said he knows the mayor and that everyone knows he likes to drink a little on his days off. He said when he talked with Rupright on the phone, “The mayor acted like he would when he is at work” and his impression was the mayor was not intoxicated.

Now that the state has released what it was investigating, Rupright said he hopes people will understand that what he maintained all along has been confirmed.

“The truth, that’s all,” he said. “The mayor was never under an investigation for a REDDI, that was a separate issue altogether and was triggered by me asking why our policy (on following up on city employees involved in REDDI calls) wasn’t followed. It can hamper the reputation of the way we do business. That cannot stand. You can’t let this (stuff) happen.”

Chief Belden also said he’s satisfied there was nothing to the REDDI call.

“I want the public to know, because they’re asking my officers about it and they don’t know anything about it, that we’re not covering up anything. We want to do business as normal,” he said.

Rupright said that although the internal investigation in the REDDI call is part of his personnel record, “Save for a few people, anybody in this community can come in and read it, because that’s my permission to do that.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.