The City of Springfield acquired records in 2016 showing that a dozen members of the Springfield Police Department had texted or called each other at the time of an alleged off-duty beating that has led to indictments against 14 officers.

But the records were destroyed after a police union complaint because they were improperly obtained by a city attorney, MassLive has learned.

“Attorney Rhett Towles formerly of Labor Relations was able to gather records which he stated placed 12 officers in a text or call chain in the timeframe of the Nathan Bill’s incident,” retired Deputy Chief Robert Cheetham wrote to the city’s law office and police department brass in a Nov. 23, 2016 email obtained by MassLive.

“The records were apparently obtained incorrectly and Attorney Towles was trying to work on another means of properly obtaining the records,” Cheetham wrote. "Attorney Maite Parsi of Labor Relations was aware of this tactic. This information was conveyed to the District Attorney’s Office.”

The existence of the phone records is another glimpse at evidence known to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, whose statewide grand jury brought the indictments this month -- but unavailable to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni when he decided not to bring charges in the case in 2017. MassLive reported last month that the FBI and AG’s Office had reviewed angles of video footage from a bank outside Nathan Bill’s that were not obtained by local investigators.

The district attorney’s office was aware of the effort to obtain the phone records but was never provided the documents, a spokesman told MassLive. The DA’s Office, which relied on the police department’s investigations and did not conduct its own factfinding inquiry when evaluating the case, did not attempt to obtain the records itself.

The city never ended up re-acquiring the records through another method. The phone records showed the existence and timing of contacts between the officers but did not include the content of text messages or phone calls, MassLive has learned.

Six off-duty Springfield police officers and a co-owner of Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant have been charged with assaulting four men after an argument at the bar led to a fight in a nearby parking lot in April 2015. One of the alleged victims, Paul Cumby, suffered a broken leg and loosened teeth.

Other current and former officers, who responded to the scene, have been charged with perjury and lying to investigators in an alleged effort to cover up the attack.

Retired Springfield Police Sgt. William Andrew, who authored the department’s internal investigation of the beating allegations, said he hoped the city’s acquisition of the records could further his investigation of communication between the involved officers.

“But they were shot down,” Andrew said in an interview.

The problem, City Solicitor Ed Pikula said, was that while the Springfield City Council has the legal authority to issue summonses for documents, Springfield’s Community Police Hearing Board does not.

The CPHB, which hears civilian complaints against officers, was created by mayoral order -- making the city’s acquisition of the records on its behalf improper, he said.

“At the time these records were summonsed for the CPHB through the labor relations department, there was an open question as to the legal authority of whether the CPHB could authorize the summons as they were a body created by the mayor and not the city council," Pikula said in an interview. “A dispute arose with the union over this issue, and the labor relations department agreed not to utilize the records and to destroy our copies.”

Pikula said that other government agencies, like the district attorney’s office and civil service authorities, were notified of what happened. But the city did not end up obtaining the records through other means. And the department’s criminal investigation of the fight, which was completed by the time the city acquired the phone records, was not reopened

“Other avenues were explored, but I don’t have the personal knowledge," Pikula said.

The Patrolman’s Union did not respond to a request for comment.

The case, which has evolved from a late-night brawl to a four-year saga of investigations, lawsuits and criminal charges, dates back to the night of April 7, 2015.

Paul Cumby, his cousins Jozelle and Jackie Ligon and their friend Michael Cintron were drinking at Nathan Bill’s when they got into a verbal dispute with a group of off-duty officers. Officer Daniel Billingsley, who was with officers Christian Cicero, Anthony Cicero and Melissa Rodriguez, accused Jozelle Ligon of whistling at his girlfriend and the two began to exchange words.

The initial argument ended nonviolently after the four civilians were asked to leave the bar. But later that night, Billingsley and a group of other off-duty officers allegedly followed the men to a nearby parking lot and attacked them.

All the officers charged have pleaded not guilty in the case. Billingsley’s attorney has described him as the victim of an assault and accused Cumby and his group of being the aggressors in the fight.

Uniformed officers responded after the fight, finding Cumby unconscious with a broken leg and the other three men nursing their own injuries. According to the department’s internal investigation, the civilians told at least one officer that they believed they had been jumped by off-duty police. But responding officers never searched the bar, and no criminal investigation was launched until Cumby filed a complaint.

Thirteen current and former officers are scheduled to be arraigned in Hampden Superior Court on Thursday in connection with the alleged beating and coverup.