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The Church of Scientology paid a private detective $10,000 per week to spy on its leader's father, who lived in Whitewater and West Allis after leaving the church about three years ago, according to West Allis police reports.

The intensive surveillance involved placing a GPS tracking unit on Ronald Miscavige Sr.'s car, rummaging through his trash, reading his email over his shoulder at the library and photographing him "wherever he went," according to the West Allis reports.

The private eye, Dwayne S. Powell, reported to his boss hourly, according to the police reports, which were generated after Powell was arrested by West Allis police in 2013 for lurking suspiciously around the 2400 block of S. 77th St.

By then, he had been tailing the elder Miscavige for 18 months, Powell told police. Powell said he was paid by a Florida investigative firm whose main client was David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology, according to the reports.

The allegations come amid renewed scrutiny of the secretive organization, prompted in part by the 2013 publication of the Lawrence Wright book "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief," and a documentary of the same name that premiered on HBO last month. Both include numerous allegations by former church members that they had been threatened not to discuss their experiences while involved with the organization and placed under surveillance to ensure they complied. Church officials have denied the claims.

The organization, founded in 1954, has long been viewed with skepticism. High-profile members such as John Travolta, Tom Cruise and Kirstie Alley routinely defend it from detractors.

There are no Scientology churches listed in Wisconsin, however a "mission" is located at S. 68th St. and W. Morgan Ave. on the southwest side of Milwaukee. There was no answer at the location Thursday.

'Blatantly false'

The West Allis police reports were first obtained by the Los Angeles Times, and released to the Journal Sentinel on Thursday.

If Ron Miscavige was "doing anything that was deemed to be not in the best interest of the church," officials dispatched emissaries from Los Angeles, where the church is headquartered, "to intervene and speak with Ron to correct his behaviors," Powell told police. Powell also was "expected to recruit people to befriend Ron and his wife who would remain close to them for information purposes."

In statements to the Los Angeles Times, David Miscavige and the church denied any association with Powell.

"Please be advised that Mr. Miscavige does not know Mr. Powell, has never heard of Mr. Powell, has never met Mr. Powell, has never spoken to Mr. Powell, never hired Mr. Powell and never directed any investigations by Mr. Powell," David Miscavige's attorney, Michael Lee Hertzberg, told the California paper.

A lawyer for the church, Gary Soter, told the Times that private investigators are hired by church attorneys "in matters related to litigation." Soter called the "allegations involving David Miscavige 'blatantly false' (and) declined to answer questions about David Miscavige's relationship with his father," according to the Times.

Ron Miscavige and his wife, Becky, could not be reached. Whether they continue to live in Wisconsin is unclear. As of September, they were still living in West Allis and told police there "they believe they are still being followed 24/7," according to a police report.

Powell spoke briefly with a reporter from the Times, saying he no longer held a private investigator's license and no longer worked for the Church of Scientology.

During questioning by West Allis police after his 2013 arrest, Powell said he had signed a confidentiality agreement in which he promised never to discuss who he worked for or what he was doing.

"If this arrest and statement gets out, he will be fired and faces civil ramifications," the police report says.

Multiple weapons

Powell, now 43, was indicted in federal court for possession of a silencer in connection with the 2013 arrest, according to court records. After his attorney filed a motion claiming officers had no probable cause to arrest him and he had not consented to a search of his vehicle, he entered a pretrial diversion agreement and the charge was dismissed.

According to the police reports, here is how the arrest unfolded:

A woman called police on July 30, 2013, after she saw Powell pacing up and down the block in front of her house and talking on a cellphone. She suspected he was involved in a drug deal.

Powell, who had been living in a Motel 6 while tracking Ron and Becky Miscavige, told police he was looking at a house for sale there because it was less than two blocks from one the couple planned to buy.

Initially, though, Powell was uncooperative with police, refusing to give his name and using profanity when he insisted he had not broken any laws.

Upon a search of his rented SUV, police found more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and at least six guns, including a rifle "designed to look like an assault rifle" and a homemade silencer.

Sport shooting was one of his hobbies, and a Whitewater farmer had offered to let him and his son shoot the guns on farmland there, Powell told police.

In addition to the arsenal, police found tools of the private eye trade including: a fake driver's license, five portable cellphone signal blockers and four signal boosters, a stun gun, a digital camera, a badge and seven license plates from states including Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Less than eight hours after Powell was arrested, his 21-year-old son, Daniel, who had been working with him, reported him missing.

Daniel Powell told police he "viewed David Miscavige as an animal" after an incident a few weeks earlier in which the church leader's father had slumped over, grabbing his chest.

Dwayne Powell called his contact for instructions and shortly received a call back, which he told his son was from the church leader.

"His dad told him that David Miscavige called him directly and told him not to intervene and let Ron die if it was his time," the police report states. "(Daniel Powell) stated that he was not going to personally intervene but he was going to call 911 if Ron had not recovered from the attack. He commented, 'Who could let their father die like that?'"