Five St. Paul police officers fired Thursday “have been painted in a false and unfair light,” the president of the officers’ union said Friday.
Paul Kuntz, who heads the St. Paul Police Federation, said Police Chief Todd Axtell gave “an incomplete and false narrative, forcing the media to fill in the blanks.” Axtell announced the terminations during a news conference Thursday.
The union will “defend its members vigorously in the face of this outrageous and unprecedented situation,” Kuntz said.
On Thursday, Axtell said that the five officers responded to an incident last year and “while they were there, an individual assaulted others and officers did not intervene.”
The man who was injured and his brother, who was also reportedly assaulted, are now represented by attorney Andrew Noel.
Noel said Friday that he will be gathering evidence, including police reports and videos, and “looking at various legal avenues to pursue” monetary compensation for them.
EX-OFFICER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
The assault last June was allegedly perpetrated by Tou Mo Cha, who resigned as a St. Paul police officer 14 years ago after he pleaded guilty to making terroristic threats.
Ramsey County prosecutors charged Cha with felony assault in connection with the incident in December.
He is accused of pepper-spraying and hitting a man in the head with a baton outside Checkerboard Pizza at Arcade Street and Jenks Avenue, a business owned by his wife. Cha, 50, has pleaded not guilty.
Axtell said Thursday there is video footage of the assault.
But Chris Wachtler, an attorney representing the police union, said Friday, “The city’s theory is if you see it on camera, all of the cops must have seen it, and that just isn’t the case.”
OFFICERS DIDN’T IMMEDIATELY WRITE REPORTS
Police officers did not file reports the night of the assault. Officers typically write police reports the day of an incident, though there are circumstances when it can be a day or two later, according to police.
The man assaulted outside Checkerboard Pizza went to St. Paul police headquarters three days later, and an officer filed a report then. Police immediately began investigating the assault, a department spokesman said.
Kuntz said Friday that “the facts of these cases are far, far different from those broadcast by Chief Axtell,” and he said they don’t support termination.
In a Friday statement, Axtell said his administration’s “guiding principles” are “accountability, transparency, trust and honesty.”
“As we have proven time and time again, we do not deviate from them, which is why the untrue allegations made by the Federation are so disappointing,” Axtell said.
TWO OFFICERS STILL BEING PAID
The police department did not release the names of the officers because the internal affairs investigation remains active, but the Pioneer Press determined through various documents and sources that they are Nicholas Grundei, Robert Luna, Christopher Rhoades, Nathan Smith and Jordan Wild.
Grundei, Luna and Smith were no longer on the city’s payroll as of Thursday. Rhoades and Wild were listed as being on paid leave.
Two of the officers are veterans and will be paid while they’re appealing, Wachtler said. They fall under the state’s Veterans’ Preference Act, which allows honorably discharged veterans more due process steps.
Kuntz said he believes police administration confirmed the names of the officers, and he called for “a transparent investigation into who … may have violated state law” by doing so.
In light of Axtell’s news conference Thursday, Kuntz said the five officers “now are deprived of unbiased and genuine due process because of his statements.”
“To try the cases in the court of public opinion at a stage where the officers are unable to defend themselves is such a serious breach of his responsibility as the chief law enforcement officer in this city,” Kuntz said at a brief news conference Friday.
Axtell said in Friday’s statement that he looks “forward to hearing the Federation’s position on this matter once they have taken the initiative to request and review the investigative files.”
OFFICERS HAD BEEN TAKEN OFF PATROL
The five officers were most recently placed in non-patrol assignments.
The internal affairs case was a “lengthy and complicated investigation with a lot of people involved, a lot of interviews,” Axtell said Thursday.
Axtell said he “learned of a violation of trust, deceit and significant policy violations.”
After the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission issued recommendations last week in the case, Axtell met with the five officers Thursday morning and made his decision to terminate them.
