Mark Oakley fired from Warrenton PD

Mar. 29—WARRENTON — The Warren Record reported in Wednesday's paper that Sgt. Mark Oakley's employment at the Warrenton Police Department had been terminated.

Neither Town Attorney Mitch Styers nor Town Administrator Robert Davie responded to calls asking why this action was taken against Oakley. But the decision comes after the State Bureau of Investigation began looking into his alleged misuse of a taser this past January in response to complaints by residents.

Oakley was placed on administrative leave in early February pending the results of the investigation.

Special Agent Colleen Cloutier is leading the investigation. In her affidavit, she writes that there may be probable cause that Oakley has deployed his taser on unarmed subjects who were not actively resisting arrest. It mentioned three pieces of video evidence on separate incidents.

Tasers have an internal record of use that can be downloaded to a computer, another court document reads. Oakley would also have been responsible for recording his use of the weapon.

Oakley had worked part time for Littleton Police Department in the past, an employee with the city said. He's currently listed as an officer on the department's website, and has a spot in the group photo on the department's banner on its Facebook page. Although it's unclear if he still works there and in what capacity.

No one at the LPD responded to calls or voicemails regarding the WPD sergeant. Its Facebook profile describes it as a department with low call capacity.

"It's unfortunate, but it needed to be done," said Herman Alston, a concerned citizen who submitted a letter describing Oakley's alleged mistreatment of Black citizens in February. "That's pretty much all I can say about it."

However, "Oakley is not the root," he added.

Alston hopes Warrenton acknowledges there is a problem — but to date, it has not, he said, and bemoaned the fact that outside agencies had to step in.

In other WPD news, the Warren Record also reported that Chief Goble Lane announced his retirement, effective in June. Lane began working for the WPD in 2010 as a K-9 officer and became chief in 2011 after his predecessor, John Younts, was fired during an emergency meeting of the town board.

An SBI investigation in 2011 turned up evidence that Younts embezzled cash. He was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation in 2014.