Arkansas City police chief Sean Wallace met with Sonya Scott Wednesday to discuss Scott’s recent arrest for cocaine possession ? a charge that has since been dismissed due to issues with the investigation.
The chief said he emerged from the meeting at Scott’s home confident the matter was put to rest. Asked directly by NewsCow if he believed the packet of cocaine found in a police patrol car belonged to Scott, Wallace answered without pause.
"I don’t think it was hers," he said. "(This case) would never win in a jury trial."
The department doesn’t plan to pursue the matter further and Wallace said if he had been contacted prior to Scott’s arrest Oct. 15 he would have "withdrawn the warrant."
Still, he holds fast to his earlier assertion that the investigation into the Aug. 2 incident that led to the charge generated probable cause for an arrest warrant to be issued. Scott was placed in a police car that summer day after an argument with a family member and an officer later found drugs in the patrol car.
Scott ? who was contacted by a reporter Thursday afternoon ? said she met with Wallace and appreciated the visit. She remains angry, however, because of the way the incident and earlier explanations were handled.
"I shook his hand, we had a pleasant conversation," she said. "But I’m like anyone else, I have to wonder if he was here because he wanted to be, or because he felt like he needed to be."
Scott said she didn’t exactly get a direct apology from the police department but said Wallace expressed regret that the incident took place. She is still considering pursuing the matter in civil court.
Scott also remains worried about statements from the county attorney’s office indicating her charges could be refiled in the future.
Wallace said he asked that the charge be dismissed because of three key issues: Scott was not interviewed about what was found, the patrol car was not immediately searched when Scott got out, and because inadequate field testing led to the substance be identified as methamphetamine, when it was actually cocaine.
The officer involved in doing most of the investigative work was very new to the force, Wallace said, and only recently completed training.
"The person I hold responsible more than anyone is the field training officer," the chief said.
Scott identified the officers at the scene in August as Troy Cochran and Travis Stroud.
Wallace did say the patrol car in which the cocaine was found had been locked in a garage prior to being searched and not used for another shift, as was previously reported. Cowley County attorney Chris Smith had told NewsCow the car was used on another shift but Wallace said Smith did not have correct information in regard to that issue.
Wallace also said he felt NewsCow’s coverage of the case had sensationalized the matter to some degree and he took issue with a headline that indicated police had botched the investigation.
He did acknowledge that not every aspect of the investigation was handled as well as it could have been.. It’s the police department’s pledge to do the "best we can" to thoroughly investigate every case.
That didn’t happen this time, he said.
