A commander with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., resigned after a local news investigation found he used patrol cars as transportation to and from a bar.
William Fitzgerald submitted his notice of retirement on Thursday, and the MPD told the Washington Examiner he has been placed on administrative leave until then. The matter remains under investigation, according to the agency.
“We recently learned that MPD’s Fifth District Commander William Fitzgerald was the subject of an investigative news story, and were advised of his concerning behavior,” the MPD said in a statement. “Based on the information provided to us, our Internal Affairs Bureau initiated an investigation.”
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Fitzgerald rode in MPD patrol cars or unmarked city-owned SUVs to Solly’s U St. Tavern, a bar in northwest D.C., multiple times over a two-week period, an investigation from WJLA found. The officer would exit a marked police car and later get picked up by another vehicle, footage of Fitzgerald’s conduct on five occasions across a two-week period showed.
On one occasion, reporters filmed Fitzgerald walking into the bar at about 11:45 p.m., and cameras showed him drinking several beers and shots. On most nights, he would leave at about 1:30 a.m., the outlet reported.
“I drank too much tonight,” Fitzgerald is recorded saying to someone inside Solly’s. “I got a ride coming.”
After a reporter asked whether he used the patrol cars as transportation to come to the bar, he denied the suggestion.
“No. We just dropped off now. We go around and check our beats because we have some overtime beats out,” he told the outlet. “We ride around and check them out, and I was coming here, and he dropped me off here. It was another car. It’s one of my officials I talk to.”
However, footage showed he would often get picked up from his apartment, with his beat only lasting 10 minutes on the ride from his apartment to Solly’s on the nights the news team followed him.
“No. I said at the end of the night that’s wrong. That’s wrong, sir,” he said. “I do take Ubers sometimes, but you’re right. I am very wrong.”
It’s unclear how long Fitzgerald has used MPD resources to travel to and from the bar, but he acknowledged it has been “too long.”
Off-duty officers are prohibited from carrying a gun when consuming alcohol, according to MPD policies. It was unclear whether Fitzgerald was armed when he entered the bar, reporters said.
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Fitzgerald joined the MPD in 1990, serving in a variety of patrol and investigative roles. He was promoted to the 5th District commander, the top position overseeing a large portion of northeast D.C., in 2015.
The review of his work conduct is the second investigation the MPD has announced in the last month, with another officer currently on leave amid alleged ties to a right-wing group.
