City board reinstates Tucson police officer fired for forgery

A Tucson police officer who was fired in August for signing his ex-wife’s name on a check was reinstated by a city review board last month.

During the Oct. 3 meeting of the Civil Service Commission, the board discussed Officer Charles Foley’s termination on the grounds of failure to report, commission of a forgery with intent to defraud — a felony — and untruthfulness, according to the commission’s legal action report.

The board unanimously voted “there was no just cause for the discipline imposed” in regard to the allegations of failure to report and commission of a felony, the report said.

In the matter of untruthfulness, the board unanimously voted that Foley “knew or reasonably should have known” that his conduct could lead to discipline, but it overturned his firing and instead imposed a 120-hour suspension without pay, the report said.

The board also ordered that he be provided with back pay, for the time he was unemployed that exceeded 120 hours, according to the report.

Only three of the five board members were present during the meeting, the report shows.

Last December, Foley’s ex-wife contacted the Sheriff’s Department to report that someone signed her name on a $4,133 check issued from a brokerage firm, of which she was entitled to half of under her divorce decree, but never received the money, according to Foley’s termination letter.

The check was issued in June 2015 from a joint investment account the Foleys had shared when they were married, but Foley’s ex-wife wasn’t aware that all of the funds had been withdrawn until a year later, after which she sent Foley two emails, asking about the account being cashed out and telling him she was going to contact authorities, the letter said.

“She suspected Officer Foley had received the distribution check and had signed her name in order to cash it,” the letter said.

During a recorded phone call with a sheriff’s deputy at the end of January, Foley confirmed he owed his ex-wife $2,066 and said he’d mail it to her by Feb. 3, which he did, according to the letter.

Foley’s ex-wife still wanted to prosecute for forgery, saying she didn’t receive any interest on the money for the year and eight months that Foley had it and she believed she wouldn’t have ever received it had she not filed a police report. During a second recorded phone call with the deputy, Foley claimed to never have received the emails from his ex-wife and denied signing her name on the back of the check, saying, “I did not sign her name on it, no, so I don’t know who did,” the letter said.

When Foley was interviewed by TPD’s office of professional standards, he said he knew his ex-wife was entitled to half the check and that when he received it, he emailed her to let her know, according to the letter.

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Foley admitted to signing his and his ex-wife’s name on the check and said he put her half of the money in a savings account for when she requested it, the letter said.

Foley had no proof he sent the email to his ex-wife, and when asked why he didn’t immediately send her a cashier’s check, he said he was upset with her at the time, the letter said.

When confronted with the fact that he told the deputy he didn’t sign his ex-wife’s name, Foley said he wasn’t truthful because he thought the Sheriff’s Department was investigating “a civil matter,” the letter said.

Foley also failed to contact his supervisor after he was questioned by the deputy, saying that he didn’t think it was necessary to tell his supervisor, because it was a “civil matter” and didn’t concern TPD, according to the letter.

The Sheriff’s Department presented the forgery case against Foley to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which declined to file charges, according to the letter.

The office of professional standards determined Foley lied during a police investigation and committed felony forgery. It was also determined he violated a department policy that says employees must notify their supervisor in writing whenever they’re involved as a witness, suspect or victim in any law enforcement agency’s investigation, the letter said.

Foley returned to work Oct. 10 and is assigned to the communications division.

“The Civil Service Commission heard all the evidence and after considering everything, they decided that based on the totality of everything, they didn’t think Officer Foley was untruthful and that the appropriate thing to do was to reinstate him to the Police Department,” said Foley’s attorney, Louis Fidel. “I think that’s a good result for everybody, because obviously Officer Foley gets his job back and the Police Department gets an experienced officer back, who has received multiple decorations in his career. That’s good for the city of Tucson.”

Foley was previously suspended for 80 hours in 2012 after he shared provocative videos and a photo of his girlfriend — a police lieutenant — with other officers.

The lieutenant, Diana Duffy, who at that time went by the last name Lopez, was demoted as a result of the investigation, but her rank was restored after a Pima County Superior Court judge asked the Civil Service Commission to reconsider her appeal.

Duffy filed a lawsuit in federal court last month, saying that she was the victim of sex discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation by TPD, after she appealed her demotion.

Foley was honored by the Tucson Police Foundation in 2015 as one of TPD’s “unsung heroes” for his work with Flags for the Flagless, a group that works to return American flags to once-barren flagpoles across Tucson.