Police investigators in California have recommended felony charges against Channel 7 TV reporter Steve Wilson for obtaining Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's personal hotel and billing records by impersonating the mayor, according to a seven-page copy of the investigator's report obtained by The Detroit News.
The report by Carlsbad Police Sgt. Don DeTar states employees at the luxury La Costa Hotel and Spa said a person identifying himself as Kilpatrick contacted them on May 7 and requested copies of Kilpatrick's hotel bill and of a check used to pay for a visit there last August.
Investigators traced the fax and telephone numbers back to Wilson.
Wilson used the faxed hotel bill and copy of a check as the basis for a series of news reports starting May 8 that outlined how the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, a nonprofit created by the mayor in 1999, paid the resort $8,605.03 for two rooms from Aug 12-19 used by Kilpatrick, his wife and sons while the mayor, according to fund officials, was there fundraising for the group.
Wilson on Thursday said he did nothing wrong. "I have done nothing illegal or unethical," he said, suggesting perhaps the hotel staff simply assumed they were talking to the mayor.
"This is just going after the messenger," said Wilson, who noted the factual content of his reports were never disputed.
WXYZ General Manager Grace Gilchrist was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment.
After the stories aired, hotel employee Mimi Thompson, who, according to the investigator's report, faxed some of the records used in Wilson's report, said she was contacted by a man identifying himself as a Channel 7 investigative reporter. Thompson, according to the report, told police the caller admitted he "tricked me" into thinking he was Kilpatrick.
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