New Castle police captain suspended
Porcus Ubiquitous
By T.J. WILHAM
tjwi...@thestarpress.com
NEW CASTLE - A high-ranking New Castle police officer has been
suspended over his involvement in the arrest of a man with whom he had
argued, police department officials said Wednesday.
Capt. Glenn Alan Criswell, a 15-year police veteran and commander of
day-shift road officers, was suspended for 5 days without pay for his
participation in the arrest last month of Gregory Truscott.
Even though it was "technically a good arrest," the circumstances
surrounding the apprehension prompted the Henry County prosecutor's
office to drop a driving-related charge pending against Truscott, New
Castle Police Chief Darrel Jackson said.
"Had it been a patrolman doing the same thing, they probably would
have received a 2-day suspension," Jackson said. "But because
[Criswell] is a supervisor, we felt he should have known the
department rules a little bit better."
According to Jackson, Criswell had gotten into an argument with
Truscott several weeks ago while the men were visiting a New Castle
tavern.
About 3 weeks later, Criswell was off-duty and working at another job
when he saw Truscott driving, the chief said.
The off-duty police captain then got on his department-issued radio
and "guided" officers to Truscott's location, informing them that
Truscott was a habitual traffic violator, Jackson said.
Jackson said his office became aware of the situation after another
police officer placed an anonymous call to Truscott, informing him of
Criswell's role in the arrest.
Under the police department's rules and regulations, officers can't be
involved in the arrest of someone with whom they have a conflict.
"We have that rule because it usually doesn't set well in the eyes of
the court," Jackson said.
Criswell - also a member of the Shenandoah School Board - has a
non-published telephone number and was unavailable for comment
Wednesday.
Contact news reporter T.J. Wilham at 213-5832.
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