Former Des Moines police officer denied unemployment following false report

Jason Clayworth | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: Body cam footage of fired officer who lied about being struck by driver Police Chief Dana Wingert cited “gross misconduct” in firing Officer Lourdes Hadenfeldt.

A judge has denied unemployment benefits to a Des Moines police officer who was fired after city officials determined she lied when she claimed she had been struck and injured by a vehicle driven by a woman fleeing a traffic stop.

Meanwhile, Des Moines police are in the process of rehiring another officer who was placed on administrative leave and ultimately resigned following a drunk driving arrest. And at the Polk County Sheriff’s office, a captain charged last month in an ongoing drunk driving case remains on the job.

The unemployment decision follows the July 30 termination of Des Moines police Officer Lourdes Hadenfeldt. Using her body camera footage, an internal department investigation determined that Hadenfeldt had not been struck by the car, as she had claimed in a police report. The internal investigation additionally found she was “not truthful” when she testified under oath during a deposition preparing for the criminal charges against the driver.

Attorney Bobby Rehkemper, who represented driver Olesya Holker, brought the discrepancies to the department’s attention in May. As a result, the department dropped a charge of interference with official acts against Holker.

Holker has said she drove away from the stop because Hadenfeldt was abusive toward her and she was fearful.

Hadenfeldt said in last month’s unemployment hearing that she wrote the initial report, and had testified, from memory, even though she had access to the body camera footage. She acknowledged the report and her testimony were inaccurate.

In the hearing, Assistant Police Chief Allen Tunks emphasized the seriousness of Hadenfeldt’s falsehoods.

“Had this person not had the means to hire an attorney, that person could have potentially been wrongly convicted of something that was alleged that didn’t happen,” Tunks said. “That goes to the credibility of everyone in our department and law enforcement in general.”

Iowa Administrative Law Judge Dawn Boucher concluded Hadenfeldt's firing was legally justifiable and ordered that she repay $4,144 in benefits she already had received.

Hadenfeldt’s “actions in creating a false report and her omission in failing to review the entire body camera video footage prior to her deposition were intentional and constitute a substantial violation of the employer’s policies and procedures,” Boucher wrote.

Hadenfeldt, 33, had worked as a Des Moines officer since June 2017 and had previously served as an officer for the Perry Police Department.

Hadenfeldt plans this week to appeal Boucher's decision to Iowa's Employment Appeal Board, said Charles Stewart, her attorney.

Other metro officer cases

OFFICER IN TRAINING: Former Des Moines police Officer Brett Vanderpool has been given a conditional offer of employment and is scheduled to begin officer training for the department on Dec. 2, said Des Moines Sgt. Paul Parizek. Vanderpool, 26, was placed on administrative leave and resigned shortly after he was arrested on a charge of drunk driving in December 2017. He had worked for the department for about a year at the time of his leave. Online court records no longer list the case, an indication that his record was expunged because of a deferred judgment. Efforts to reach Vanderpool were not successful.

SHERIFF'S CAPTAIN CHARGED: Polk County Sheriff's Capt. Doug Miller, 52, was charged Oct. 17 with drunk driving following a stop by an Ankeny police officer for speeding. A test conducted during the stop showed his blood alcohol concentration was more than twice the legal limit, court records show. Miller has worked for the sheriff's office for 30 years and remains employed as a captain, Lt. Heath Osberg said Monday. Rehkemper, Miller's attorney who also represents Holker, the driver in the Des Moines case, declined to comment other than to note that his client has pleaded not guilty. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Jason Clayworth is an in investigative reporter at the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-699-7058 or jclayworth@dmreg.com