A police captain is expected to file a second lawsuit against the District this week claiming that a gambling and drug raid on his Northwest rental property was another attempt to intimidate and retaliate against him for reporting corruption within the department, his attorney said.
D.C. police stormed the home at 2905 Georgia St. last week in what authorities have called a sting operation. Twenty-four people were at the residence, and police said they recovered marijuana and cash. No arrests were made.
The property is owned by Capt. Melvin Gresham, the 23-year veteran who in June filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the department accusing his bosses of drumming up bogus accusations against him for reporting wrongdoing within their ranks.
“The department is clearly retaliating because I’m a whistle-blower, exposing corrupt activities within the department,” said Gresham, a 3rd District patrol supervisor whose rental home was raided Thursday.
D.C. police spokesman Traci Hughes did not respond to repeated attempts to reach her for comment.
Gresham claims to have been cooperating with Justice Department investigators over the past several years in an investigations into misconduct within the department and accused some officers — including some of those who raided his property Thursday — of providing false testimony in cases.
The officer said he plans to file a second lawsuit in federal court this week and ask the Justice Department to investigate the motive behind the raid, said Gresham’s attorney Scott Frison. Frison said his client will not be intimidated.
“We can do this dance as long as they want to do it,” Frison said.
In June, Gresham filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the department, accusing his bosses of retaliation for whistle-blowing. He is also expected to testify this fall in a civil lawsuit that he was ordered by supervisors to retaliate against a female lieutenant after she reported that she had been sexually assaulted by a superior officer.
Frison also accused the department of leaking the raid to the media to the discredit Gresham’s name and his lawsuit against the District.
“Ray Charles could see this whole thing was a setup,” Frison said.
Gresham was placed on administrative leave earlier this year after he was involved in an auto crash and was accused of bullying the investigating officer into blaming a bus driver. Gresham said the internal affairs investigation concluded that the charges were unfounded. He said he remains on stress-related sick leave.
