Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 7, 2007 13:22:27 GMT -5
CHAFFEE, Mo. - Police officers take an oath to serve and protect, so what happens when they're suspected of breaking the law?
The Chaffee Police Chief apparently isn't taking any chances. He fired 31-year-old Officer Daniel Ayers, soon after the investigation began.
Ayers has since bonded out of jail.
Police say Ayers gave two Chaffee women cash and cigarettes in exchange for them performing sexual acts for him, but his wife says it's all an attempt to frame her husband.
MaryBeth Ayers didn't hold back her feelings, as she turned in her husband's uniform and gear. "It's not like police officers make a million dollars. They have to care about what they do. They are either a good cop or a bad cop," she says.
It all allegedly took place in a building on the 100 block of Chaffee's Main Street. Police say Ayers offered the women fifteen dollars and some cigarettes to show him their breasts and kiss each other, a couple of times.
Another time, he allegedly asked them to perform sexual acts on each other for a carton of cigarettes - a request they reportedly turned down.
Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter took over the investigation two weeks ago. "If it turns out he's guilty he'll never be a police officer in the State of Missouri, and that's fine by me," Walter says.
Marybeth Ayers has a different opinion. "I think the charges are a joke. They're so childish," Ayers says.
In fact Mrs. Ayers says her husband would never disgrace the badge he wore, or the oath he took to serve and protect. "My husband's firing is in retaliation. He went to the board about illegal activities going on at the police department this was in retaliation."
Still, Ayers declined to comment on the illegal activities she was referring to. She also says she doesn't doubt her husband in any way, saying" He's a good man, a good husband, and a fantastic officer."
The Ayers don't plan on giving up; they have an attorney representing them.
In the meantime, some folks in Chaffee say the police department was right to fire Ayers even if he hasn't had his day in court, because the mere suspicion should never have come up in the first place.
The Chaffee Police Chief did not want to comment at this time.
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