Ex-Douglas schools chief claims OV police defamed him

A former Douglas Unified School District superintendent has filed a $1.1 million notice of claim against the Town of Oro Valley saying his reputation was damaged when its police department unfairly characterized him as a “suspicious person.”

On March 7, Oro Valley police sent a news release about a suspicious man, who it said offered a ride to a Canyon del Oro High School student multiple times on March 4. It described the suspect as an older man in a green van with a “grey and black mustache and a wrinkled face.” The release concluded with a public service message about the dangers of minors making contact with strangers.

Weeks later, on March 24, the agency updated the news release, saying an arrest had been made and identified Jesus Greer, the former Douglas educator, as the “suspicious person.” The agency also provided a booking photo of Greer, which was published and aired on multiple news organizations, including the Star.

However, Greer was not arrested on charges of suspicious activity, his attorney, Jeff Gould said. He was arrested on charges of having an open container and littering while walking in the parking lot at the Oracle Crossings Mall.

Greer told Oro Valley police officers that he had offered a ride to someone on March 4, and cooperated with their investigation, his attorney said. But his client offers rides to people all the time and he was subsequently cleared from being a person of interest, he added.

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Greer’s family found out about the incident when his son saw his father’s booking photo on television, the attorney added.

“Twenty-five years of a man’s life, his reputation and his legacy as an educator and superintendent are gone,” Gould said. “His entire body of work involved helping students.”

The former superintendent was previously found guilty of violating the Arizona School Finance procurement code in 2005, for which he had to pay the district $830 in restitution. But the offense was a misdemeanor and the incident for which he was found guilty happened after his retirement in 2002, Gould said. And frankly, that has nothing to do with his booking photo being circulated as a “stranger danger alert,” he added.

Lt. Chris Olson, a spokesman for the Oro Valley Police Department, said the department stands by their news releases. In fact, the initial release led to community members reaching out to the agency with leads, which then led to its contact with Greer.

Oro Valley police will take any matter involving children and strange adults seriously, Olson said. “As a police department, it’s our responsibility to keep the community safe.”