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Posted by: kwflatbed

DALLAS, Tex. — A Dallas police sergeant who previously had alleged that a deputy chief violated off-duty employment rules was fired Tuesday after he was found to have lied and falsified time cards.
Sgt. Curtis McGruder, a 17-year veteran, came under scrutiny late last year after two fellow sergeants documented several instances in which he left work early or arrived late and then claimed the city owed him overtime, records show.
Sgt. McGruder could not be reached for comment. He denied the allegations when interviewed by police investigators, and records show that he accused his two peers of coming after him because he had "openly criticized [them] for not pulling their weight."
"My work ethic and conduct can be attested through the individual officers that I supervise," he said in a statement to investigators.
In June, Sgt. McGruder was the whistle-blower in an internal investigation that was followed by the retirement of Deputy Chief Alfredo Saldana.
Sgt. McGruder told investigators that Chief Saldana was routinely late for his moonlighting shift at a nightclub but would then ask to be paid for the full shift. He said Chief Saldana also often brought a woman with him. Sgt. McGruder coordinated off-duty security work at several clubs.
He also accused Chief Saldana of trying to intimidate him when he attempted to fire Chief Saldana from working the off-duty job.
Investigators eventually determined that Chief Saldana had been double dipping while performing security work at nightclubs. Chief Saldana denied the allegations.
Last fall, Sgt. McGruder's two fellow sergeants came forward with their allegations.
For example, Sgt. Karen Willhoite said that on Oct. 7 she saw Sgt. McGruder leaving the station parking lot in his personal vehicle before the end of his shift. She followed but lost sight of him. She returned to the station and positioned a squad car camera to record vehicles entering the lot.
The video showed Sgt. McGruder's white SUV returning to the lot just over three hours later. She and the other sergeant told investigators that they saw Sgt. McGruder walk back into the station.
Sgt. McGruder told investigators that he did not recall leaving during his shift. When shown the video, he denied that it was his vehicle, records show.
Later that month, Sgt. Willhoite made a copy of Sgt. McGruder's time card and determined he owed the city four workdays. Another supervisor met with Sgt. McGruder about it, records show.
The supervisor told investigators that about an hour later, Sgt. McGruder told him that he had "found the mistakes and corrected" the time cards and other paperwork.
It now reflected that he did not owe the city any time, records show. The paperwork had been altered with corrective fluid.
Sgt. McGruder denied having done anything improper. He also denied having made that statement to the supervisor.
"Only a fool would say something to that effect," he wrote.


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