Why did a Boynton Beach internal affairs report clear officers without interviewing them?

BOYNTON BEACH — An Internal Affairs investigator cleared two Boynton Beach police officers of misconduct in the handling of a crash investigation without speaking to them. An expert has questioned how the investigator could have cleared them without doing so.

Both officers smelled alcohol on the breath of Chelsea Harness, the girlfriend of city commissioner Thomas Turkin. He arrived on the scene of the crash and told officers that Harness was his girlfriend. Harness was never charged or asked to take a Breathalyzer.

Mark Sieron, a Jacksonville-area lawyer who specializes in DUI cases, discussed the case with The Palm Beach Post at the newspaper’s request. He said the smell of alcohol by itself may not be enough to launch a DUI investigation, but one would almost always be done when property damage is involved.

Harness smashed into an immobile car with a flat tire, sending the car into the gate of the High Point retirement community, causing substantial damage to the sign. Both cars were totaled.

The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics investigated whether Turkin violated the ethics code by appearing on the scene to help Harness. Ultimately, the ethics commission concluded that there was not enough evidence to find that Turkin improperly influenced police, but an ethics commission investigator found his conduct to be “concerning.”

The Post filed a public records request with the police department to determine if it had conducted an Internal Affairs investigation. Records showed Police Chief Joe DeGiulio requested one after learning of the ethics commission inquiry.

The department provided The Post with a summary of the report filed by Sgt. Christine Naulty. The Post has since filed another request asking for the report itself.

The summary disclosed that neither officer — Thomas Coppini or Desiree Rosas — were interviewed. Instead, the IA investigator relied on the testimony Coppini provided to the ethics commission. Rosas resigned in April, before the initiation of the IA investigation, but shortly after the commission’s investigation began.

The ethics commission tried to interview Rosas, but police refused to provide a forwarding address. Phil Terrano, the person who sparked the commission’s investigation, also was not interviewed. He claims Turkin told him the night of the wreck that Harness was drunk and that “she was lucky she was not going to jail.”

Coppini turned off his body-worn camera to speak with Turkin. The IA report did not address whether that conduct violated a requirement that an officer state on camera why his or her camera is being turned off. Coppini never made such a statement.

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DeGiulio said in a statement emailed to The Post that an officer can deactivate a camera once an interaction or incident is complete. DeGiulio said Coppini deactivated his camera after he confirmed on camera with responding Rosas that she would not be moving forward with a DUI investigation.

As for why the officers were never interviewed, DeGiulio said IA reviewed “the final close out report (of the ethics commission) and the statements provided from our officers and determined there were no additional questions.” The ethics commission, though, noted in its report that its review focused on the conduct of Turkin and not with the quality of the law-enforcement investigation.

Louis Dekmar, a retired LaGrange, Georgia, police chief and a former president of the International Association of Police Chiefs, reviewed the internal affairs report at The Post’s request. Dekmar has been in law enforcement for more than 50 years. He is an adjunct professor at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, and a self-employed police management consultant.

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Dekmar was troubled over the fact that the officers were not interviewed.

“The Ethics Commission investigation was narrowly focused on whether the commissioner violated the ethics code,” Dekmar said. “The report is inconsistent with accepted law enforcement standards and practice. Those failures and an inadequate investigation can affect public confidence.”

Dekmar also said he was bothered that the body-worn camera was turned off while one officer spoke to the commissioner.

The IA summary conflicts with a major finding of the ethics commission. The IA report says that “at no time did this commissioner (Turkin) have direct contact with the officers during the initial investigation.” The ethics commission, however, found though Turkin arrived on the scene while officers were conducting the crash investigation. He told them that Harness was his girlfriend. The body-worn camera videos confirm that finding.

Upon learning that Harness was Turkin’s girlfriend, Rosas said: “What am I getting myself into?” The body-camera videos show Turkin laughing with officers and high-fiving them after a decision is made not to charge Harness.

Both Turkin and Terrano arrived at the scene of the crash at about the same time, 2 a.m., on May 24, 2024. Harness called both of them for help. She was employed by Terrano at the time. Terrano filed the ethics complaint against Turkin, alleging he told him that Turkin convinced the officers not to charge Harness.

The ethics commission concluded Terrano’s version could not be independently verified. Turkin says Terrano acted out of spite because the city voided a contract with him to develop a Little League baseball field.

Meanwhile, The Post has learned that Turkin’s appearance at the crash scene cost Boynton Beach taxpayers $4,200. The city approved payment to a Tallahassee-based lawyer, Jennifer Blohm, to represent Turkin before the ethics commission. She was paid $400 an hour, and reimbursed for her flight from Tampa to West Palm Beach, along with $337 for a one-night hotel stay at the Hyatt in West Palm Beach.

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Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and issues impacting homeowner associations. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boynton internal affairs report clears officers but findings questioned