A grand jury will decide whether a Toledo police sergeant [Gloria Burks] should face criminal charges for the shooting of one of her colleagues [Toledo police Sgt. Jeffrey Bechtel] during shift change this week, authorities said... [Capt. Diane Ruiz-Krause] did not witness the shooting, but "played a critical role in de-escalating the incident and bringing it to closure," Chief [Mike] Navarre told The Blade Tuesday. The chief refused to elaborate on his statement... [Sgt. Burks] was on light duty in February, and under physician's orders not to operate a vehicle, when she struck the rear of a vehicle... The other driver ... made a supplemental statement within the traffic report indicating that Sergeant Burks struck her at least six times from behind in a construction zone and initially left the scene of the accident... Sergeant Burks was suspended from duty for three days in 1998 after she scratched and cursed at a fellow officer who arrested her son on misdemeanor charges... 
TPD LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO POLICE SHOOTINGby Amulya Raghuveer
Posted: 09.21.2010 at 5:14 PM
Updated: 09.22.2010 at 9:40 AM
[Excerpts] Toledo Police now say that a criminal and internal investigation has been launched into a shooting incident that left a Toledo Police sergeant injured Monday afternoon... Sgt. [Jeffrey] Bechtel, who was celebrating his 25th year - to the day - anniversary on the job, was shot once in the arm. He was taken to Toledo Hospital for treatment of the injury... Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre says [shooter, Sgt. Gloria] Burks has been admitted to the University of Toledo Medical Center for a "medical problem." Sources say she has been relieved of duties. [Full article here]
TOLEDO OFFICER SHOT IN ARM BY FELLOW OFFICER
The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
September 21, 2010
[Excerpts] One 25-year veteran Toledo police sergeant was hurt Monday afternoon when he was shot in the arm by another command officer... Investigators said Sgt. Jeffrey Bechtel was shot in the arm at 1:37 p.m. at the Scott Park District Station... The name of the officer who shot Sergeant Bechtel was not released. The incident was not in the shooting range... Both officers were being interviewed immediately after the inciden... The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation... [Full article here]
TOLEDO OFFICER IS SUBJECT OF CRIMINAL PROBE IN SHOOTING
The Toledo Blade
By Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
September 22, 2010
[Excerpts] A longtime Toledo police sergeant now on paid sick time is under criminal investigation in the shooting of a fellow command officer inside the Scott Park district station... The suspected shooter, a 27-year veteran, also was taken to the hospital. She is using paid sick time while separate criminal and administrative investigations unfold, Chief Mike Navarre said Tuesday. He said the sergeant in question has been "relieved of duty," which means she can't return to work until "that's rescinded." It is not, however, the same thing as being "suspended," which the chief described as a disciplinary measure meted out after an investigation is completed. "Because there are medical issues here, she certainly has a contractual right to use her [paid] sick time, and that's what she has chosen to do," he said... Chief Navarre said the shooting happened in a work area for supervisors and community service officers in the west part of the building, just outside the office of Capt. Diane Ruiz-Krause. The captain did not witness the shooting, but "played a critical role in de-escalating the incident and bringing it to closure," Chief Navarre told The Blade Tuesday. The chief refused to elaborate on his statement. He would not say if there was any possible motive or if there had been any confrontation before the shooting. He has declined to call the incident an accident, pending the outcome of the investigations. One round was fired from the sergeant's standard-issue Sig Sauer 40-caliber handgun. The round went through Sergeant Bechtel's arm and was recovered from a wall... [Full article here]
SHOOTING OF OFFICER HEADED TO GRAND JURY
Suspect is fellow sergeant on force
The Toledo Blade
By Bridget Tharp
September 25, 2010
[Excerpts] A grand jury will decide whether a Toledo police sergeant should face criminal charges for the shooting of one of her colleagues during shift change this week, authorities said. Sgt. Gloria Burks, a 27-year veteran of the force, is the suspected shooter, according to multiple Toledo police officials. The suspect will not be named publicly until charges are presented to the grand jury, which won't occur for at least two weeks, said John Weglian, chief of the special units division for the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office. The suspected shooter could be indicted for felonious assault in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, Mr. Weglian added... [Sergeant Bechtel] since has complained of numbness in several fingers, which physicians suspect could indicate nerve damage... Sergeant Burks, 50, was hired in September, 1983, and granted a professional service award in May, 2002. She is specially trained as a law enforcement instructor and critical incident negotiator and in community-oriented policing... Sergeant Burks was suspended from duty for three days in 1998 after she scratched and cursed at a fellow officer who arrested her son on misdemeanor charges... Sergeant Burks pleaded no contest to an administrative charge of conduct unbecoming an officer for the incident. There was no indication of the disciplinary action in her personnel files because the department must remove information about such penalties after four years, per their contracts with the unions, Chief Navarre said... Sergeant Burks has been placed on light duty periodically within the last three years because of medical problems including brain seizures and a stroke since her coronary bypass surgery in July, 2007... She was on light duty in February, and under physician's orders not to operate a vehicle, when she struck the rear of a vehicle... Sergeant Burks was not charged or professionally reprimanded for the crash. The other driver, Ms. Goben, made a supplemental statement within the traffic report indicating that Sergeant Burks struck her at least six times from behind in a construction zone and initially left the scene of the accident. A responding officer told Ms. Goben that the sergeant "was on medication and dying," according to the supplemental report... [Full article here]
Back on May 6, 2010, Burks appeared on FOX Toledo for a “Talk Back” segment about police hiring.
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Does anyone here know what is going on with this case? After numerous setbacks and continuances, and the latest trial date of January 4 having come and gone, it seems this case is being quitely swept under the blue rug. I can't help but think if I shot a policeman, I would have been tried and convicted long ago.
ReplyDeleteTrial reset for sergeant accused in shooting
ReplyDeleteToledo Blade
Published: 1/5/2012
On the day a Toledo police sergeant was to go to trial on charges in the shooting of a colleague at the Scott Park district station, a new trial date of March 14 was set in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. Sgt. Gloria Burks is charged with felonious assault with a gun specification and an alternative charge of assault...
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2012/01/05/Trial-reset-for-sergeant-accused-in-shooting.html
Psychologist: Toledo sergeant shot colleague amid seizure
ReplyDeleteToledo Blade
BY MARK REITER
3/2/2011
The report from Charlene Cassel appears to support Sgt. Gloria Burks' not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea. She is charged in Lucas County Common Pleas Court with felonious assault and an alternative charge of assault... In her report, Ms. Cassel, a clinical psychologist with the Court Diagnostic and Treatment Center, a private, nonprofit community forensic psychiatry facility, said she believes that when she shot the officer, Sergeant Burks experienced a seizure that prevented her from knowing the wrongfulness of her actions... J. Christopher Anderson, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said he would seek a second evaluation of Sergeant Burks...
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2011/03/02/Psychologist-City-sergeant-shot-colleague-amid-seizure.html
you cannot acess that link
DeleteSergeant Burks’ lawyers have filed a motion of not guilty by reason of insanity.
ReplyDeletePsychologist: Toledo sergeant shot colleague amid seizure
ReplyDeleteToledo Blade
BY MARK REITER
Published: 3/2/2011 - Updated: 10 months ago
The report from Charlene Cassel appears to support Sgt. Gloria Burks' not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea. She is charged in Lucas County Common Pleas Court with felonious assault and an alternative charge of assault.
Sergeant Burks, who appeared Tuesday for a pretrial hearing, was relieved of duty without pay after the Sept. 20 incident in which Sergeant Bechtel was shot in the right arm near the shoulder.
In her report, Ms. Cassel, a clinical psychologist with the Court Diagnostic and Treatment Center, a private, nonprofit community forensic psychiatry facility, said she believes that when she shot the officer, Sergeant Burks experienced a seizure that prevented her from knowing the wrongfulness of her actions.
She concluded that the officer was neither suffering a severe mental disease nor was mentally retarded at the time, but instead was experiencing a mental defect -- specifically, a seizure disorder.
J. Christopher Anderson, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said he would seek a second evaluation of Sergeant Burks.
Judge Myron Duhart granted the request, giving him a week to find another psychologist to conduct the evaluation.
The case was continued to March 15.
If convicted of felonious assault, which carries a specification that a gun was used, Sergeant Burks could be sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The Toledo Police Department is reviewing the shooting internally, with results of the investigation to be released after the criminal prosecution is completed.
An officer with the department since 1983, Sergeant Burks, 50, is trained as a law enforcement instructor and critical incident negotiator and in community-oriented policing.
Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2011/03/02/Psychologist-City-sergeant-shot-colleague-amid-seizure.html