2 Officers Fired, 2 Supervisors Suspended Over 'Gross Neglect of Duty' in Stormy Daniels Arrest
Four Columbus Police Department personnels have received disciplinary action over the arrest of Stormy Daniels.
Officers Whitney Lancaster and Steve Rosser were terminated this Thursday for mishandling Daniels’ 2018 arrest, according to officials. In addition, Sergeant Scott Soha received 120-hour suspension while Lieutenant Ron Kemmering was ordered a 240-hour suspension.
The order was passed down by Columbus’ Department of Public Safety director Ned Pettus under the recommendations of Chief Thomas Quinlan following an investigation, according to a release from the Columbus Police Department.
Lancaster, 57, had been with the force for 32 years and Rosser, 43, was a 19-year veteran, USA Today reported. Meanwhile, Soha, 43, and Kimmerling, 51, have been in the division for 17 and 24 years respectively.
Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) was performing at the Sirens Gentleman’s Club on July 11, 2018 when she was taken into custody by a police vice unit. She and two other local women were arrested under a rarely-enforced Ohio law forbidding strip club workers from touching anyone who’s not a family member while nude or seminude at the business.
According to records from the Franklin County Municipal Court, Daniels was charged with three misdemeanor counts of illegally touching a patron. Her charges were dismissed hours after her arrest.
However, the order signed by Pettus on Thursday said the officers involved in the arrest demonstrated “gross neglect of duty and incompetence,” according to NBC4.
“The actions taken at Sirens regarding Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) deviated significantly from actions at every other strip club investigated by you. This arrest was not like any other strip club investigations because in the other strip club investigations, all charges were filed at a later time, or the offender was released on a summons. Not a single other suspect was deprived of their rights by being arrested ‘On View’ and taken to the Franklin County Jail for slating, except Ms. Clifford demonstrating gross neglect of duty and incompetence,” the document against Lancaster and Rosser read.
According to the report, Lancaster was also fired for failing to record her working hours correctly and not reporting an alleged drug deal in the bathroom, while Rosser was terminated for lying to internal affairs about the reason he was investigating the strip club, ABC News 11 reported.
Kemmering was suspended for “ineffective supervision” that lead to the arrest, according to the outlet, and Soha was found to have “engaged in malfeasance and gross neglect of duty.”
Daniels sued Columbus police in January 2019 for civil rights violations, claiming officers had arrested her in retaliation for her lawsuit against President Donald Trump. She settled for $450,000 later that year, according to CNN.
“Because of pending litigation as well as a concurrent federal criminal investigation, there will not be further information released at this time,” the Columbus Police Department said in a statement Friday.
Union representatives for Lancaster, Rosser, Soha and Kimmering did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, though a spokesperson for Fraternal Order of Police told NBC News that both Lancaster and Rosser intend to challenge Pettus’ ruling.
