In a letter to the Burlington Police Department, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said that patrol officer Christopher Lopez had made “patently false” statements in a sworn affidavit in October and would no longer be used as a witness by local prosecutors.
Officials said that Lopez falsely claimed that he smelled marijuana to justify a vehicle search that led to an arrest. The damning evidence came from the officer’s own body camera audio, on which he can allegedly be heard conceding to another officer that he had made up the story.
Lopez, who joined the Burlington Police Department in September 2014, was placed on paid leave earlier this month. He resigned on Monday in advance of a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, police said. Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said he planned to fire Lopez at that hearing.
Now, authorities are investigating approximately 32 other drug cases involving Lopez that have similar “fact patterns” to see if there are other irregularities. Lopez could not immediately be reached for comment.
The perjury allegation stems from the October 25 arrest of Michael Mullen. Lopez claimed that he smelled marijuana coming from a vehicle that Mullen was in — a common justification police use to conduct searches.
In a sworn affidavit used to support a drug possession charge, Lopez said that he “observed what I know based on my knowledge, training and experience to be the odor of fresh marijuana emitting from” the vehicle.
But the footage from his body camera told a different story. The video shows Lopez try to deactivate his camera, and then ask fellow officer Nicholas Rienzi “you’re off, right?” according to George’s letter. Rienzi said his camera was off.
Lopez then said that he did not smell marijuana, but that he “could if he needs to but I don’t like going that way if I can’t back it up,” George said in her letter.
“The Burlington Police Department is committed to the highest standards of integrity,” del Pozo said in a prepared statement. “We have no tolerance for an act that, if proven, will erode the public’s trust in the official statements of our police.”
Based in part on that video, defense attorneys filed a motion to throw out the evidence gathered against Mullen, who was arrested on a drug charge. Authorities did not release further information on Mullen’s arrest.
Del Pozo placed Lopez on administrative leave February 13, the same day a hearing in the case was scheduled in Chittenden Superior Court.
Lopez did not show up in court for that hearing. He initially told officials that the snowy weather prevented him from getting to court. But Lopez later told a prosecutor that he had “concerns” about going forward with the case. Lopez was not stranded by the weather, as he claimed — he was at the Burlington police station, a few blocks from the courthouse, George said in her letter.
Del Pozo asked the Vermont State Police and Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office to investigate Lopez after he found that there was “reasonable suspicion,” to believe that Lopez committed perjury, according to a letter the department released.
Lopez previously worked for the Baltimore Police Department.
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Situations like this are why we need a citizen oversight committee for our Police Dept. Please contact your city council reps in support of forming one!
I’d like information about the other officers role as well.
It is cases like this that show how important body cameras can be, and why we need independent oversight of the police. What about the officer he seemed to be conspiring with? If that officer did not immediately report the perjury they should be held as an accomplice and fired as well. Will either face criminal charges for this travesty? How can we trust the police if this sort of crime is not aggressively prosecuted?
…and Lopez and his accomplice attempted to have an off-camera / off the record conversation regarding getting their stories straight. So it appears that a method being used which subverts the main intent for requiring police to wear body cameras. Cameras designed to disallow their being turned off or erased during shift by other than a top officer in the chain of command need to be employed.
This is standard operating procedure for the police. Back when I was a college student/bartender paying for school I’d regularly be on the roads late driving home. I’d also get pulled over regularly and told such things as “you threw a cigarette out the window” (I don’t smoke), “I smell alcohol” (never failed a breath test), “I smell marijuana” (I have had my car searched as a result). I have to imagine they find things more often than not as a result of these tactics.
“Lopez previously worked for the Baltimore Police Department.” Well that explains a lot.
Under del Pozo’s leadership:
-orders body cams turned off at a standoff in Colchester
-murders petty drug dealer Kenny Stephans and 76 year old mentally distressed Phil Grenon
-botches the handling of the dissemination of KKK and anti-Semitic fliers around town
-strong arms the closing of Zen Lounge over hip-hop acts
-arrests two people for wearing Anonymous masks
-fails to warn the women of Burlington after an alleged rape in a downtown courthouse bathroom
-his dept cited for disproportionate stopping and searching of people of color
-add now his officers engaged in bogus police stops followed by phony pretext to search followed by perjured affidavits
How much longer is Burlington going to tolerate his crimes, professional malpractice and incompetence?
Call your city councilor. Demand his resignation now!
I trust Chief Del Pozo to uphold the highest standards for himself and the members of the BPD.
I believe he is doing his best to be transparent and to engage the community in a process whose outcome is to continuously improve his departments performance.
There are instances where police officers have to make rapid decisions in order to protect their lives and the lives of innocent citizens – it’s easy to second guess their actions not knowing all the details of the situation and the facts. In several of the cases mentioned if certain info had been disclosed to the public it could have jeaprodized the prosecution of the case.
I’m not saying there aren’t police officers who break the law or act to attempt to cover up their actions- what I am saying is that I trust Chief Del Pozo to continuously monitor the actions of his Department,hold officers accountable for their actions, and inform the public if/when that disclosure wouldn’t jeaprodize an ongoing investigation.