Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 21, 2006 12:55:04 GMT -5
03/18/2006 - KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- A Department of Public Safety officer accused of molesting two girls shot and killed himself in a station locker the same day he was to be placed on administrative leave, department officials said.
Officer Matthew Hallman, 40, a road-patrol officer and 13-year veteran of the department, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Bryant Street station Friday afternoon.
Chief Dan Weston, who heads the city's combined police and fire department, said he had asked Hallman to meet with him after learning that the Calhoun County prosecutor's office had issued a warrant for the officer's arrest.
''He would have been placed on administrative leave and his police authority would have been removed and an internal investigation would have been conducted,'' Weston told the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story published Tuesday.
Weston said Hallman told department officials in October that a female was accusing him of inappropriately touching her. That month, Public Safety officials contacted investigators in Portage, where Hallman lived and where the acts reportedly occurred, he said.
Weston said Public Safety officials did not contact Portage authorities about the case again and that he wasn't notified further about the matter until Thursday, when Portage police Chief Richard White told him about the warrant.
White said his department started investigating Hallman in October after allegations were made against him by one of the two girls. Hallman was accused of molesting them between May 2003 and October 2004, according to the arrest warrant.
Hallman was charged with four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count each of criminal sexual conduct involving a person under the age of 13, third-degree criminal sexual conduct and accosting children for immoral purposes.
Officer Matthew Hallman, 40, a road-patrol officer and 13-year veteran of the department, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Bryant Street station Friday afternoon.
Chief Dan Weston, who heads the city's combined police and fire department, said he had asked Hallman to meet with him after learning that the Calhoun County prosecutor's office had issued a warrant for the officer's arrest.
''He would have been placed on administrative leave and his police authority would have been removed and an internal investigation would have been conducted,'' Weston told the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story published Tuesday.
Weston said Hallman told department officials in October that a female was accusing him of inappropriately touching her. That month, Public Safety officials contacted investigators in Portage, where Hallman lived and where the acts reportedly occurred, he said.
Weston said Public Safety officials did not contact Portage authorities about the case again and that he wasn't notified further about the matter until Thursday, when Portage police Chief Richard White told him about the warrant.
White said his department started investigating Hallman in October after allegations were made against him by one of the two girls. Hallman was accused of molesting them between May 2003 and October 2004, according to the arrest warrant.
Hallman was charged with four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count each of criminal sexual conduct involving a person under the age of 13, third-degree criminal sexual conduct and accosting children for immoral purposes.