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Phoenix police officers indicted on fraud, theft charges

by Michael Ferraresi - Nov. 19, 2010 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

Three Phoenix police officers and a former patrolman were indicted Thursday after authorities said they pocketed thousands of dollars in an off-duty security scam at a low-income south Phoenix housing complex.

Twenty-five other Phoenix officers, including 15 from the South Mountain Precinct, are under internal review stemming from the same three-year investigation into whether officers providing off-duty security collected wages for work they didn't perform.

As a result, Phoenix police leaders Thursday ordered a full review of the department's off-duty work program. The program, which the department provides as a community service, provides uniformed off-duty officers to guard construction sites, serve as extra protection against shoplifters at stores and work as requested by private businesses in thousands of other assignments. Officers can earn more than $40 per hour. The program provides $30 million in extra wages annually to officers, Public Safety Manager Jack Harris said.

The work is assigned to off-duty coordinators who are responsible for staffing the jobs, charging customers and reporting the hours officers worked.

The four indicted are Sgt. Benjamin Sywarungsymun, Officers Steven Peck and Aaron Lentz, and former patrolman George Contreras.

Also implicated in the investigation was Phoenix police Sgt. Sean Drenth, who last month was found shot to death alongside his patrol vehicle near the Capitol. Harris said Drenth knew he was under investigation. The police department wasn't aware that he was being investigated by the Attorney General's Office until the week of his death. Homicide detectives haven't determined the cause of his death.

Harris said Drenth could have faced felony charges because the sergeant's alleged misconduct would have met the criteria for grand-jury consideration.

"It is my understanding that had he not been deceased, he would have been referred to the grand jury for one of the felonies," Harris said during a Thursday news conference at Phoenix police headquarters.

Phoenix homicide investigators now are "well aware of the connection" between Drenth's death and his involvement in the off-duty misconduct investigation, Harris said.

Contreras and the officers were served Thursday morning after a grand jury returned the indictments, said Steve Wilson, an Attorney General's Office spokesman. None has been arrested.

Contreras, a longtime South Mountain Precinct patrolman who coordinated off-duty security assignments, faces charges of felony theft, illegal control of an enterprise and fraud, according to the indictments. He is accused of theft in excess of $9,000, the Attorney General's Office said.

Contreras told The Republic briefly on Thursday that he couldn't comment on specifics, though he said "there wasn't much there anyway" on the investigation and that investigators could "say what they want to" about alleged felony crimes.

Sywarungsymun, Peck and Lentz face charges of felony theft, the indictment shows. Lentz in excess of $2,000, Sywarungsymun in excess of $1,800, and Peck in excess of $1,700, all felony level thefts.

Lentz declined comment for this story.

Sywarungsymun and Peck could not be reached.

All three were placed on paid administrative leave this week, Harris said.

For each of the 25 other officers under review, their involvement never rose to the level of potential felony crimes, he said.

Their off-duty work privileges have been suspended pending further review.

They could still face misdemeanor charges or internal discipline.

South Mountain Precinct, which has roughly 350 sworn employees, has come under scrutiny after a series of incidents involving officers accused of misconduct or excessive force, including Officer Richard Chrisman's Oct. 5 fatal shooting of a domestic-violence suspect.

He was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault, prompting a city-appointed task force of civil leaders to call for increased public oversight of Phoenix police internal investigations.

Chrisman is one of the 25 officers under internal review in the off-duty work inquiry. Off-duty work

The off-duty assignment that first raised concerns with Phoenix police detectives came from a townhouse complex called Cotton Center, considered at the time to be one of the highest-crime hotspots in south Phoenix.

Homeowners associations that oversee more than 640 low-income units there, including some Section 8 housing, reached out to Phoenix police around 2005 for extra security.

Cotton Center property managers said that over the years they tried to curb drug activity, gang violence and other crime with private security firms, to no avail.

"It's hideous, quite frankly," said Trish Don Francefco, president of Phoenix-based Metropolitan Property Management. "When the pizza delivery people won't enter the property, that's a serious problem."

Contreras served as coordinator out of South Mountain Precinct for off-duty jobs for the complex, at Broadway Road and 48th Street. He also coordinated jobs for other alleged business victims Laron Incorporated, Arizona Materials, and Eisenberg Properties, all in Phoenix, according to a summary of the 17,000 page investigation.

Don Francefco and former Cotton Center homeowners association president Joe Cook said the one-year venture ended after managers realized officers were actually checking the property briefly while on duty, rather than being available for the full extent of off-duty work they contracted for.

With concerns about residents' safety in mind, Cook said they "fired" Contreras and sought other options for private security.

The associations and Metropolitan Property Management filed a complaint with the Phoenix Police Professional Standards Bureau around 2007, which prompted an internal-affairs investigation. Internal affairs later turned the case over to the Attorney General's Office. Contreras and Drenth

Harris on Thursday said Contreras came from a law-enforcement family. His brother and other family members have served with Phoenix police.

Contreras owns Raptor Guitar music store in south Phoenix. The walls of the shop near Baseline Road and Central Avenue are adorned with photos of Contreras with legends such as Gene Simmons and Alice Cooper but also with photos of Drenth, his fellow officer and friend from their band.

Contreras resigned from the police department in 2008 amid multiple misconduct investigations, records show.

Contreras served 18 years and quit two years shy of receiving his full pension, according to the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

Phoenix police Lt. Mark Hafkey, who worked south Phoenix with Contreras, said Contreras was known as an aggressive officer who distrustful of management.

"(Contreras) was the kind of guy who was always pushing the limits of policy," said Hafkey, now president of the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association.

"He was always involved in some kind of (internal) investigation."

Republic reporter Robert Anglen contributed to this article.

Did Sgt. Sean Drenth commit suicide because he knew he would soon be charged with stealing money from the city of Phoenix?

His death sure has all the makings of a potential suicide.

If he had stopped some one he didn't call for back up or make any radio transmissions indicating he needed backup like cops are trained to do.

The police don't have any suspects in his alleged murder.

The cops didn't have a manhunt for his killer after his alleged murder.

The cops are not telling us what the murder weapon was, which makes me suspect it was Sgt. Sean Drenth own gun.

Gee it sure sounds like suicide!

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Phoenix police officer's slaying a mystery to investigators

Sergeant found dead in Phoenix alley; police releasing few details

by Lynh Bui and Salvador Rodriguez - Oct. 20, 2010 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

Phoenix police officials continued their intense investigation Tuesday into the shooting death of Sgt. Sean Drenth, whose body was found outside his patrol car south of the state Capitol on Monday night.

Drenth, 34, found near 18th Avenue and Jackson Street, died of an apparent gunshot wound between 10 and 11 p.m. Monday.

Police officials didn't release many details, saying that they had more questions than answers and that they are not ruling anything out.

"We are doing everything humanly possible to find out exactly what occurred," Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said.

Drenth, a 12-year veteran with the Police Department, was awarded the Medal of Valor in 2004 for helping rescue people from a burning apartment building. He was married to Colleen Drenth for 13 years.

The Police Department lost contact with Sgt. Drenth less than an hour before the Arizona Capitol Police found his body in an alley near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

He was shot in an open area where police officers are known to sit in their cars and work on paperwork and still keep an eye on what is going on.

Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix police spokesman, said that many police vehicles are single-officer units and that Drenth didn't have a partner.

"As the officer, you use your discretion on when you need a backup and what calls you take by yourself," Crump said.

Officials declined to discuss weapons Drenth may have carried or whether there were signs of a struggle. [Gee it sounds like they are covering up his suicide!]

"We are looking at all of the evidence, and we will run through everything," said Sgt. Steve Martos, who is also a spokesman for the department. "It might be too early to determine." [It sounds more like they are hiding evidence his suicide!]

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon headed to the area shortly after 11 p.m. and described the scene as somber.

"There were about 30 or 40 officers, and I saw the emptiness and shock in their eyes," Gordon said.

Drenth was the last Phoenix police officer to be promoted to sergeant. The city implemented a freeze on promotions in the department shortly after December 2009 as one of the ways to manage its budget crisis.

Drenth had been working in the South Mountain Precinct for about a week after being transferred from the Squaw Peak Precinct in central and north-central Phoenix.

He requested the move and was among several officers who transferred as part of a citywide shift in precinct boundaries that took effect this summer, Martos said.

Drenth's death is the latest blow to the Police Department, which has faced several high-profile incidents over the past year.

Earlier this month, South Mountain police Officer Richard Chrisman was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Danny Frank Rodriguez while on a domestic-violence call.

This week, Squaw Peak Precinct Officer Sutton Wohlman was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault in the choking of his girlfriend.

And in March, Michael Johnson, the city's only African-American council member, was pinned to the ground by South Mountain Precinct police Officer Brian Authement, igniting a citywide debate on race relations between police and the south Phoenix minorities.

"It's a difficult time for the Phoenix Police Department for a number of reasons, but we remain focused with the same professionalism and vigor for the job that we had before," Martos said.

Johnson, who represents the area where Drenth's body was found and is a former Phoenix police homicide detective, said it was too early to determine the circumstances of Drenth's death. [Translation - we are covering up his suicide!]

"There are just not enough details to elaborate or speculate on anything," Johnson said. [Translation - we are covering up his suicide!]

Councilman Claude Mattox, chairman of the City Council Public Safety and Veterans Subcommittee, received a call shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday alerting him of Drenth's death.

Mattox, who arrived in the area around 1:30 a.m., said officers were told to take advantage of counseling services provided by the city if they needed them.

Drenth's death shows that Phoenix police officers "are out there day and night, literally putting their lives on the line for the residents (of) Phoenix," Mattox said.

Reporter JJ Hensley contributed to this article.

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Phoenix officer's fatal shooting still confuses detectives Case still treated as homicide, but police now forced to consider suicide possibility

by Michael Ferraresi - Nov. 5, 2010 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

More than two weeks after Phoenix police Sgt. Sean Drenth's on-duty shooting death, police have yet to release a suspect's description, a license plate on a getaway car or any other details from the scene. [It sounds more like they are hiding evidence his suicide!]

If Drenth was shot to death by an unknown assailant, investigators have refused to say anything about the killer after the highly decorated patrolman was discovered fatally wounded outside his patrol vehicle in an industrial lot near the Arizona Capitol. [It sounds more like they are hiding evidence his suicide!]

Drenth's shooting is still being treated as a homicide, according to Phoenix police, though the cause and manner of Drenth's Oct. 18 death is still under review by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner. [It sounds more like they are hiding evidence his suicide!]

Phoenix homicide investigators have said little else other than they are forced to consider the possibility that Drenth committed suicide based on unidentified evidence collected at the scene of the shooting. [Finally they admit it was a SUICIDE!!!!!]

"We are still treating it as a homicide, as we always have, but there is still nothing definitive as to what happened out there," said Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump, the department spokesman handling the Drenth case. [Translation - we are covering up his suicide!]

"If we had that definitive evidence - one way or another, that it was a homicide or suicide - there would be no reason to withhold that information," Crump said. [Translation - we are covering up his suicide!]

By now, crime-scene technicians have already swabbed for evidence such as hair and fibers from inside Drenth's patrol vehicle and conducted a blood-spatter analysis from evidence at the scene, though it was still unclear if the South Mountain Precinct sergeant was shot inside or outside the vehicle. [Unclear!!! Where did the cops find his body? Again sure sounds like the Phoenix Police Department is covering up a suicide!]

Silent Witness is offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information in the case with the hope that someone will provide an anonymous tip leading to an arrest, though Phoenix police have yet to confirm Drenth was murdered. [Translation - we are covering up his suicide!]

Police said he was neither writing a report nor responding to an emergency call when he parked at the lot near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Jefferson Street and 19th Avenue on Oct. 18.

The vehicle is one of three crime scenes in the Drenth case, according to experts. The scene around the vehicle and the sergeant's body are the others.

Each has already been processed for latent fingerprints and ballistics at this point of the investigation, though investigators have declined comment on the results of tests conducted in the Phoenix Police Crime Lab.

Doctors at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office said they could take up to three months to release the official death-investigation report.

Dr. Cyril Wecht, a longtime Pennsylvania medical examiner and forensic pathology expert at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, said any shooting like Drenth's should be approached initially as it were a homicide.

He said based on his limited knowledge of the case, that a major metro police agency such as Phoenix police likely have an idea at this stage of the investigation - or that they simply could be stumped based on evidence that could suggest a murder or suicide.

"Two weeks of silence makes me highly suspicious," Wecht said. "It makes me think they've got some questions, that there may be more there than they're saying at this time and that it might not be a homicide," he said. [Translation - we are covering up his suicide!]

The case largely hinges on the weapon or weapons used in Drenth's shooting. Police have declined to confirm if Drenth was shot at a distance, from close alongside his vehicle or with one of his police weapons - such as his shotgun, his duty handgun or a secondary handgun officers carry on patrol.