Former West Linn police Lt. Mike Stradley got a verbal reprimand for failing to initiate an investigation into then-Chief Terry Timeus after two officers reported the chief appeared drunk as he was leaving a local restaurant in May 2017, according to newly released internal affairs records.

Timeus, who ultimately resigned over the encounter, was off duty but driving his unmarked city police car after he left the West Linn Pub with a girlfriend and made inappropriate comments to two of his officers who happened to be in the parking lot, the records indicate.

The officers reported the chief’s behavior to a sergeant who informed Stradley, but the lieutenant dismissed the allegations, saying he had talked to the chief by phone that night and he seemed fine.

Stradley didn’t seek any further information from the officers or even document their accusations, the records revealed.

“He totally dismissed the observations of two experienced police officers who had face to face contact with Chief Timeus and were concerned enough about his sobriety and conduct that they were willing to face the uncomfortable prospect of reporting their complaints to their supervisor about their own chief,’’ an outside investigator wrote in a summary report.

West Linn released the documents in response to a public records request in the wake of a scandal involving Timeus, Stradley and other West Linn officers for targeting a black man for arrest in Portland. They pursued the arrest as a favor to a fishing buddy of Timeus. Timeus left the West Linn Police Department in fall 2017 and received more than $123,000 in a separation agreement that now is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Stradley left West Linn in January 2018 to take a job training new recruits at the state’s basic police academy. He is on paid leave from the state agency, pending an investigation in the wrongful arrest case.

‘Visibly under the influence’

On May 16, 2017, Timeus walked out of the West Linn Pub and stopped to talk to two on-duty West Linn officers parked in the lot. Timeus later told the investigator that he had 1 ½ beers with dinner.

The internal investigation said Timeus told one recently hired officer, Cody Tadlock, that he’d received a bill for hiring him away from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office: “You are costing me $17,000, you better be (expletive) worth it.’’

Timeus also addressed another officer, Chad Jones, who was looking for work elsewhere, according to the report: “And you are not (expletive) going anywhere. I will make sure you don’t pass your background.”

Timeus asked Jones why he was looking to leave West Linn and Jones told the chief that he lived in Keizer and his wife didn’t want to move. That’s when Timeus said words to the effect of: “I can see who wears the pants in the family,’’ according to the investigator’s report.

Timeus later told Jones, “Let me know when your balls drop.’’ The officers said the chief wasn’t smiling or laughing when he made the crude comment.

“After Chief Timeus drove away both officers discussed their mutual concerns about Chief Timeus’ conversation and their concern that Chief Timeus was visibly under the influence of alcohol during their contact,’’ the investigative report said.

The report points to Stradley’s bad judgment: “Lt. Stradley inserted his own opinion of Chief Timeus’ level of sobriety based upon a phone conversation, to override the in-person observations of the two officers. Lt. Stradley indicated he was aware that Chief Timeus regularly drinks after hours … Recognizing this history of drinking, Lt. Stradley still chose to dismiss the observations of his officers in favor of his own phone assessment.’’

The verbal reprimand faulted Stradley for not following proper procedures in failing to document the incident and failing to initiate an investigation.

‘Blind loyalty’ to chief

Both officers who had complained ultimately left the West Linn department.

Tadlock, when submitting his resignation about a month later, shared his frustration with a West Linn police captain about the lack of any follow-up to his complaint about Timeus. The captain reported the matter to the city’s human resources department, which hired retired Eugene police captain Steve Swenson of SS Investigations to investigate.

Tadlock returned to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Chad Jones was offered a deputy position with Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

The Washington County District Attorney's Office determined it could not charge Timeus in the case because it could not prove the officers' allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

Another West Linn officer interviewed as part of the inquiry accused Stradley of displaying “blind loyalty’’ to Timeus, fostering an environment where they would “cover for each other,’’ the report shows.

In another instance, Stradley alerted Timeus that a West Linn sergeant had been inquiring about being hired by Portland police through a lateral transfer arrangement. Stradley learned of the contacts through his former employer, the Portland Police Bureau.

As a result, Timeus had a “heated conversation with the sergeant,’’ which then ultimately convinced the sergeant to pursue the Portland police job, according to the report.

The outside investigator said Timeus and Stradley tried to discredit officers raising the concerns.

“Chief Timeus and Lt. Stradley both offered during their interviews that these events were orchestrated and exploited by a small number of employees who had long-term personal and professional grudges against them,’’ the investigator wrote.

Earlier complaints by other West Linn officers about Timeus’ racist, sexist and homophobic remarks and other unprofessional conduct and Stradley’s alleged protection of his boss had been investigated and dismissed, reports showed.

The Oregon Department of Justice, for example, began a separate criminal investigation into Stradley and Timeus, evaluating allegations that Stradley changed a police report to remove mention of the chief’s name to protect him from alleged misconduct and then forged another officer’s signature and that Timeus tampered with a police exam to pass his girlfriend’s sister.

In a December 2014 letter, Oregon Senior Assistant Attorney General Colin Benson wrote that the department found insufficient evidence that either committed any crimes.

Timeus is under new fire now.

West Linn City Council President Teri Cummings said she contacted the FBI to alert them of her concerns that Timeus had allegedly extorted former City Manager Eileen Stein to increase his separation payout with three more months of compensation.

Timeus allegedly threatened to divulge a personal favor he did for Stein while he was chief, Cummings said. Her allegations were first reported by The Portland Tribune.

Cummings said she sent the FBI copies of her performance evaluations of Stein. In a 2017 evaluation, she wrote that Stein violated ethics rules by asking the chief for professional help with a personal problem and “that it cost the City a lot more than the extra money. The public trust suffered … Ms. Stein’s secret held hostage by the Chief appears to conflict with the City Charter requirement for the City Manager to keep Council informed of all things at all times.’’

No one has publicly detailed the favor granted, but Timeus is believed to have intervened with one of Stein’s family members experiencing problems. Stein could not be reached for comment.

In a 2018 evaluation, Cummings wrote that “Stein’s inappropriate relationship with former Chief Timeus, a subordinate, needlessly depleted our budget and diminished public trust.’’

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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