GRAND RAPIDS, MI - After former Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Josh Kuiper crashed his car, a Grand Rapids police officer told his watch commander that Kuiper was "hammered," court records show.

The watch commander, Lt. Matthew Janiskee, told the officer, Adam Ickes, to stop talking, and to call back on another police department phone line, presumed to be non-recorded.

The new details are contained in a federal lawsuit filed by the city against Grand Rapids Police Officers Association, Grand Rapids Police Command Officers Association and three officers involved.

Kuiper was not arrested after the November crash and was driven home by police.

The five calls to the other number, labeled "Non Recorded Line 3407" in the watch commander's office, were inadvertently recorded in the hours following the crash and have been reviewed by police conducting an internal investigation, according to the lawsuit.

Three of the calls were from Ickes. Sgt. Thomas Warwick called that line twice.

The calls were part of the reason police Chief David Rahinsky sought a criminal investigation - and is trying to terminate all three police employees involved.

Matthew Janiskee

The police union contends that the information on the five phone calls could not be used in any disciplinary process - or be released publicly - without violating state eavesdropping laws and federal wiretapping laws, according to the lawsuit.

The city disagrees.

"The accidental recording of the five conversations on Line 3407 was not directed by the City or any of its officers or agents, and does not constitute an unlawful interception of communications under the Federal Wiretapping Act or the Michigan Eavesdropping Act," attorney John Gretzinger wrote in the lawsuit.

A union representative for the officer and sergeant did not immediately returns calls seeking comment.

A special prosecutor from Kalamazoo County was tapped to review the case for possible charges. This week, charges were brought against the former prosecutor, but not against the police involved in the crash investigation.

On its Facebook page, the police union said the Kalamazoo prosecutor, in declining to charge the officers with willful neglect of duty, "made the right decision. Now if only the chief and city manager would follow suit."

"It's troubling to know that we are not even safe from our own administration. Instead of being pulled in closer like family, when things don't go perfect, we are tossed to the curb. Would you turn your back on family?

"It's bad enough that GRPOA members have to be hyper vigilant while doing their job so they can go home to their families without worrying if they will be subject to criminal prosecution when making split second decisions or using discretion.

"I ask you to stand with the GRPOA and fight for these officers. They are good men and great protectors of the citizens of Grand Rapids."

Thomas Warwick

Despite drinking the night of the crash, Kuiper was not arrested after he drove the wrong way on a one-way street and hit a car, injuring a man who had gone out to grab a coat from his vehicle.

Police put Kuiper through dexterity tests but did not administer a preliminary breath test. Warwick drove Kuiper home.

Kuiper was arraigned on Friday, Feb. 3 on a felony charge of reckless driving causing serious injury and misdemeanor driving charge. The felony charge carries a possible five-year prison sentence upon conviction..

Grand Rapids Police Chief David Rahinsky has recommended that the officers be fired for violating the "public trust."

The crash happened around 3:30 a.m. Nov. 19, on Union Avenue SE south of Fulton Street. Kuiper had earlier been at a retirement party for former Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth.

Ickes called the lieutenant's desk shortly after he got to the scene.

"In that call Officer Ickes advised that 'this crash out here is Josh Kuiper from the Prosecutor's Office that's hammered, going the wrong way on Union and (inaudible) a parked car,'" Gretzinger wrote.

"Lt. Janiskee advised him to stop talking and call back on '3407,'" the attorney wrote.

The crash report noted that Kuiper had been drinking and was at fault for the crash.

A couple of weeks later, Forsyth, then the prosecutor, started asking questions.

On Dec. 2, Forsyth called Janiskee - whose wife, Monica, is now the chief assistant Kent County prosecutor - to see why Kuiper had not been cited for drunken driving, the court papers said.

The call was then reported to Deputy Police Chief Daniel Savage, who directed a review of the crash report and Ickes' body camera footage.

Savage learned that Ickes had called the lieutenant shortly after he got to the crash scene.

After Savage's review, the police chief authorized an internal investigation.

The investigation showed Warwick was in the watch command office when Ickes first called, then went to he scene.

While police believed that the "Non Recorded Line" was not recording, Capt. Pete McWatters asked the Grand Rapids Police Department's information technology liaison to see if there would be a record of incoming calls.

He later was advised that there were actual recordings on the unrecorded line.

"Prior to receiving that information, the Police Department was not aware that the unrecorded line was actually being recorded," Gretzinger wrote in the lawsuit.

The police chief then asked state police to investigate the officers for potential crimes.

The officers were suspended without pay Jan. 27 after being put on paid since at least Jan. 6.

The city contends they violated the Police Department's code of conduct and should be fired, City Manager Greg Sundstrom said.

City workers have a right to an appeal hearing, likely before Deputy City Manager Eric DeLong, or file a grievance alleging that the city violated its contract with the police union.