SF officer jailed on records charges following rape investigation

Officer Jason Lai was charged with two misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of criminal history information and four misdemeanor counts of misuse of confidential Department of Motor Vehicles information, police said. less Officer Jason Lai was charged with two misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of criminal history information and four misdemeanor counts of misuse of confidential Department of Motor Vehicles information, ... more Photo: San Francisco Police Department Photo: San Francisco Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close SF officer jailed on records charges following rape investigation 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco police officer was criminally charged Wednesday for alleged records violations that emerged while he was being investigated for rape.

Officer Jason Lai was charged with two misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of criminal history information and four misdemeanor counts of misuse of confidential Department of Motor Vehicles information, police said.

He was booked into County Jail after a months-long investigation that began after a woman accused him of raping her in August.

The woman said Lai raped her twice after a night of heavy drinking at her Sunset District home, according to an affidavit for a search warrant. Lai, an officer at Taraval Station, frequented her workplace while on patrol and had asked her to dinner.

According to police, internal affairs investigators could not find sufficient evidence to support the rape charge, but discovered evidence of the records violations during the investigation.

Lai was released on $18,000 bail. He could not be reached for comment.

Investigators are still looking into whether a former San Francisco police lieutenant lied and delayed the sexual assault investigation, police said.

Curtis Liu had contacted Lai after the woman sought medical treatment a few days after the alleged assault and named him as a suspect, according to court documents.

Liu said he had called Lai as a joke because he thought the name was a coincidence, but according to investigators, he then went on to lie to his superior officers about contacting him and led them to believe he had made the proper notifications to start an investigation.

The lies and breach in protocol, according to the affidavit, not only delayed the investigation by a day but “could have assisted (the officer) in destroying and disposing of crucial evidence in this investigation.”

An attorney for Liu did not immediately return calls for comment. Police said he no longer works for the department.

Lai was placed on unpaid leave during the investigation, and remains on unpaid leave after his arrest.

He is scheduled to return to court in May.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo