A former D.C. police sergeant testified Tuesday that he handed his bosses documents describing the police response during the 2002 mass arrests of protesters at Pershing Park, evidence that later disappeared under questioning.
Retired Sgt. Douglas Jones was the first of 14 witnesses to be called before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola to investigate whether D.C. officials altered or covered evidence to cover up their actions during the protest of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, who is now the head of the Philadelphia police, is scheduled to testify Thursday.
The District already has agreed to pay about $8.5 million to most of the 400 demonstrators who were arrested at Pershing Park, including many who were hog-tied and held for more than 24 hours.
Facciola has warned that his probe could lead to criminal prosecution.
On Tuesday, Jones told Facciola that after the protest, he saved electronic copies of the “running resume” to two computer servers and made 12 hard copies for the command staff. Jones, who worked in the command information center, made the extra copies because of the “sensitivity” of the protest and police response, Jones said.
A month or two after the protests, Jones said he was approached by supervisor Neil Trugman, who asked him for a hard copy of the running resume and the password and login information to access the information electronically.
In spring 2003, after former Councilwoman Cathy Patterson issued a subpoena for the running resume for Pershing Park, Jones said he again was asked to retrieve the running resume but this time it had vanished.
“I remembering going to look for it and it was not there — not there electronically,” Jones said. Jones said he and other information technology workers spent hours searching for the information without any success.
Trugman testified that he has no recollection of asking for the running resume or asking for the login information.
Ramsey has testified under oath that he didn’t order the mass arrests and arrived at Pershing Park after the police had begun rounding up people. He said Assistant Chief Peter Newsham ordered the arrests and he approved the decision. Newsham has said he ordered the arrests.
Newsham was scheduled to testify Wednesday.
