Chloe Morrison, Ginny LaRoe, Staff Writers
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
A Chattanooga police officer was suspended and ordered to undergo anger management treatment for allegedly arresting a woman without cause and filing a false police report, police said Tuesday.
Chattanooga Police Department Chief Steve Parks suspended Sgt. Leigh Noorbergen for 28-days without pay. He said she must undergo anger-management treatment “until we feel we’re comfortable as far as her working here.”
Sgt. Noorbergen arrested a woman last year after she took pictures of the sergeant’s patrol car that was blocking an alley, Capt. Mark Rawlston, head of the department’s internal affairs division, wrote in his summary of the case.
Sgt. Noorbergen then made false statements about the woman in the police report and lied about it during an internal investigation, Capt. Rawlston wrote.
Filing a false report is illegal in Tennessee, but Chief Parks said Tuesday that criminal prosecution would not be appropriate at this time. He declined further comment while the case is under appeal.
Neither Sgt. Noorbergen nor her representative from the International Brotherhood of Police Officers could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Sgt. Noorbergen will appeal the disciplinary action at a City Council hearing May 1. She patrolled a section of downtown and North Chattanooga during the second shift before her suspension.
According to the internal affairs report, the incident began when Valerie Myers saw a police car blocking an alley beside Kanku’s Market on Central Avenue, a problem she said is ongoing. Ms. Myers then began taking photographs.
Sgt. Noorbergen then asked Ms. Myers for identification, and she asked the sergeant why, records show.
Sgt. Noorbergen arrested Ms. Myers outside Kanku’s in October 2005 on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, records show.
“Sgt. Noorbergen states (Ms.) Myers screamed at her and caused such a disturbance that people came out of their homes near the alley to see what was going on,” Capt. Rawlston wrote in the internal affairs report.
But two witnesses told investigators they disputed that claim.
The charges against Ms. Myers were dismissed in Hamilton County General Sessions Court in December after Sgt. Noorbergen did not appear in court to prosecute the case.
WHAT’S NEXT
Chattanooga Police Department Sgt. Leigh Noorbergen, who was suspended for 28 days without pay and ordered to take anger-management classes, is appealing the department’s decision. She will argue her case before a City Council panel May 1.