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KEVIN KRAUSE and SCOTT GOLDSTEIN
The Dallas Morning News (Texas)

Mar. 21--The Dallas County Sheriff's Department has completed a criminal investigation of its auto theft task force and concluded that one of its officers did nothing wrong in his handling of a confidential informant who was wanted by other police agencies, officials say.
Unofficial criticism about Lonnie Cole's conduct as an investigator with the North Texas Auto Theft Task Force originated with the Dallas and Waxahachie police departments, sheriff's spokesman Raul Reyna said.
Deputy Reyna said a 10-page investigative report has been submitted to Sheriff Lupe Valdez. But he said investigators still have to talk to a couple of people before the investigation can be officially closed.
No formal allegations were made against Officer Cole by the two police agencies, but the Sheriff's Department decided to investigate because of the nature of the criticism, Deputy Reyna said.
The inter-agency squabbles began when a 31-year-old Dallas man who had been working as an informant for the task force was named a suspect in an October truck theft in Waxahachie.
Detectives with the Dallas and Waxahachie police departments worked together on the case and arrested the informant last month on an aggravated robbery warrant.
Allegations of interference by Officer Cole arose during the investigation of that case.
"There was a rumor circulating that one of our officers was being untruthful to another agency and withholding information related to a confidential informant," Deputy Reyna said.
He said sheriff's investigators have been consulting with the Dallas County district attorney's office, which is satisfied with the department's findings.
Once the investigation has officially concluded, sheriff's officials will decide whether or not to file a complaint against Dallas and Waxahachie investigators, Deputy Reyna said.
Officials with those police departments could not be reached late Thursday for comment.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said he had heard about complaints from other departments but didn't know the Sheriff's Department had launched a criminal investigation.
"It sounded like a lot of territorial grumbling to me," he said. "The usual prima donna stuff."
The six-member North Texas Auto Theft Task Force was taken over by the Sheriff's Department from the district attorney in 1999. It deals with all auto thefts but focuses on thefts of commercial vehicles.
The multi-jurisdictional task force includes a Texas Department of Public Safety investigator and a Collin County sheriff's investigator.
The task force receives most of its $1.4 million funding through a grant from the Texas Automobile Theft Prevention Authority, an agency of the Texas Department of Transportation. The grant money comes from a $1 fee assessed on all Texas vehicle insurance policies.
Dallas County provided a $466,847 cash match for the current fiscal year, records show.

Wire Service

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