Post by WaTcHeR on Nov 7, 2006 12:56:31 GMT -5
Officer Andrew Smith
11.07.2006 - Two Janesville police officers have resigned, and one has been arrested on misdemeanor charges after what police reports describe as a day of drinking, violence and threats of suicide by the arrested officer who was involved in two extramarital affairs.
Officer Andrew Smith, 32, of 194 Badger Lane, Milton, resigned Monday upon the department's request after both internal and criminal investigations. He had been on the force about 5½ years.
Smith is charged with two counts of disorderly conduct while armed and one of disorderly conduct.
The Rock County Sheriff's Department conducted the criminal investigation and arrested Smith on Wednesday.
The other officer who quit is Cassandra Tousignant, a new recruit who was in her probationary period and who was one of two women with whom Smith was having extramarital affairs, according to police reports.
Tousignant did not meet her probationary requirements and was offered the chance to resign, Chief Neil Mahan said this morning. Her relationship with Smith and the incidents of Sept. 9 played only a small role in her failure to meet department requirements, the chief said.
The affair between two officers would not have been grounds for investigation or for asking for their resignations, Mahan said.
"An off-duty relationship between two consenting adults is not a matter for the Janesville Police Department to get involved in," he said.
According to the reports and a police department press release:
Smith completed his shift at 7 a.m. Sept. 9, went to a Janesville bar with other off-duty officers and started drinking. At 10 that morning, he continued to drink at his home in Milton and left a note for his family that he was thinking about killing himself.
At about 11:30 a.m., Smith went to the home of his other girlfriend, who lives on Holmes Street in Janesville. He appeared to be drunk, and the two argued over their relationship.
During the argument, Smith drew a knife from a sheath concealed around his neck and stabbed the woman's clock radio. Smith took the woman's cell phone and left.
The woman, who is not a police officer, also was in a relationship with a Fort Atkinson police officer who lives in Janesville. Smith also went to that officer's home the morning of Sept. 9 and told him that he, too, was involved with the woman. She had spent the previous night at the Fort Atkinson officer's home.
The Fort Atkinson officer said Smith was not confrontational, and the two shook hands.
At 1:30 p.m., Smith brought a different clock radio to the girlfriend on Holmes Street and returned her cell phone. They continued to argue, though, and Smith left again.
Between 5 and 6 p.m. that day, Smith returned to the woman's home. When he left the second time, she followed him to his car because she was concerned about his driving while so upset. She found him holding a small pistol in an open palm. When she grabbed for the gun, Smith kicked her away from the vehicle and drove off, shouting profanities.
The woman told investigators she had not been hurt.
About 7:15 p.m., Smith went to Tousignant's apartment, still distraught and extremely drunk. Tousignant found the pistol in Smith's truck, unloaded it and hid it from him.
She called other off-duty officers to help deal with Smith. When he learned of this, he tried to leave, but she stopped him twice.
Both times, Smith threw Tousignant to the floor. She sustained minor bruises.
Tousignant described Smith as an alcoholic who was operating with no sleep on Sept. 9 but who was driving himself around. He told her by cell phone he had run someone off the road.
One of the other off-duty officers suggested Tousignant call 911 and offered to do it himself if she thought she needed more help. About 9 p.m., the officers called Capt. Dan Davis. He persuaded Smith to be allowed to be taken to a medical facility for a professional assessment.
Smith was put on administrative leave and relieved of all police powers after the incident Sept. 9. Smith told sheriff's investigators he would have arrested himself if he had been called to the incidents.
Smith has been in the news before as both a victim and the target of a lawsuit the city settled out of court.
In September, the city of Janesville settled a lawsuit for $21,000 filed by a Janesville woman who charged that Smith used excessive force when he arrested her. The settlement included the stipulation that the city admitted no liability in the incident.
In 2004, Smith was stabbed with a screwdriver by a man he interrupted during a car break-in. Smith chased the man on foot, tackled him and during the ensuing wrestling match, Smith was punched in the forehead and stabbed in the neck and head.
www.gazetteextra.com/smith110206.asp