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Detroit [[ WXYZ) - Action News Investigators uncover new information about the girlfriend who played a big role in the demise of ex-police chief Warren Evans.
She has a history of temper tantrums that have gotten her in trouble with her own department and landed her in criminal court three times.
Action News Investigator Scott Lewis broke the story of Lt. Monique Patterson’s role in the chief’s downfall. Lewis has new details about Patterson’s past.
Lt. Patterson was appointed to a high-profile position while she was dating the chief and that caused some morale problems in the department. But the Investigators have learned that Patterson’s demeanor has also caused a lot of conflict in the department and gotten her into some serious trouble.
Current and former colleagues paint a picture of Patterson as a bit of a loose cannon who can be rude, angry and abusive.
“In 29 years moving up in the police department have you ever encountered another police office with this bad of an attitude?” Lewis asks retired Detroit Deputy Chief Powers Leo Powers about Lt. Monique Patterson.
"Not against a commanding officer, no," says Powers.
Patterson’s disciplinary rap sheet seems to support what Powers is saying. Action News has learned the department disciplined the lieutenant four times for incidents involving angry outbursts. Three incidents resulted in criminal charges, and two of those involved Lt. Patterson pulling a gun.
The pattern began in the mid 90’s and includes an incident as recent as 2008. It all started in a parking lot at Henry Ford Community College back in 1994.
According to police records, Patterson pulled in to the parking lot in her personal car. She got into it with another driver who took a parking spot she thought should have been hers. Patterson rolled her passenger window down and threatened the other driver.
According to the police report , this is the exchange between Patterson and the other driver:
Patterson: “Expletive, like that will get you killed.”
Other driver: “What are you talking about?”
Patterson: “You know.”
Other driver: “Explain yourself.”
Patterson: “You should have moved up and not parked in that space. You better leave if you know what’s good for you.”
Then, according to the police report, Patterson picked up her gun, held it up at dashboard level and pointed it toward the windshield, but not directly at the other driver. Patterson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of careless use of a firearm. She was sentenced to probation.
Fast forward three years to 1997. Patterson lands in court again, this time in Detroit on an assault and battery charge, accused of throwing a glass object at a neighbor. The court file is incomplete, but it says the case was dismissed after Patterson complied with conditions set down by the judge. Police records indicate Patterson took anger management classes and the department suspended her for 10 days.
Just two years later in 2000, Patterson was hit with criminal charges again. This time accused of pulling a gun on two men at a bar in Detroit. A judge found her not guilty but she was guilty of department violations and served a 45-day suspension.
In 2004, another temper flare, and Patterson gets in hot water with the department again. This time with an underling who didn’t obey her order to turn off his lights and siren and slow down on the way to a scene. According to police records, Patterson ripped the officer’s badge off his shirt. She gets a written reprimand.
The last blemish on Patterson’s record came just two-and-a-half years ago over an incident outside Cobo during the 2008 Auto Show.
Patterson was off duty sitting in an unmarked city car apparently waiting to pick someone up. A sergeant working traffic detail asked her to move. She refused. They exchanged words and things got heated. The incident landed in the lap of then deputy chief Leo Powers. He brought Lt. Patterson into his office to get her side of the story.
“She was belligerent. She was rude and there were several times I had to tell her, ‘Hey look you’re bordering on insubordination,’” recalls Powers. “And based on her sheer demeanor alone, I said that’s it because she continued and I said I’m bringing in Internal Affairs. Internal Affairs will handle this.”
Internal Affairs investigated the Cobo incident. Patterson got a four-day suspension for being rude and using profane language with a police officer.
Action News repeatedly tried to get Patterson’s side of the story. First through a phone message and later Scott Lewis approached her as she arrived home from work.
“Can I ask you a couple questions just about some incidents in your background?” asked Lewis of Patterson.
“I would rather it be more of a planned interview than an ambush,” said Patterson.
“OK, we can do that, we can sit down,” said Lewis.
A couple hours later, Lt. Patterson called back and gave this statement:
“I decline an interview with you because I believe your purpose is to be scandalous evidence to me by digging
up years-old prior adjudicated and closed disciplinary cases concerning me…. all to embarrass the former chief,” she said.”
But this isn’t about the former chief. It’s about Lt. Patterson and pattern of losing self control, on, and off the job.
“You can’t step on people just because of your position just because of where you are, who you are, what you do, in order to get what you want. You have to be able to deal with people,” says attorney David Robinson, a former Detroit cop specializing in police misconduct cases.
He says having your emotions under control is a paramount to being a police officer, especially for a supervisor.
“She carries a gun. She drives a vehicle. Those are two sources of power. Engaging and interacting with citizens when the temperament isn’t in check can be a dangerous thing potentially,” Robinson says.
He also says that cops who lack emotional discipline also create a potential for lawsuits against the city.
In fact it already happened. A lawsuit was filed on Friday, July 30, and a Detroit police officer is claiming she was harassed by Patterson and unfairly transferred by former chief Evans.
Her name is Shanda Starks. Starks claims she was pulled out of the mayor’s executive unit, supposedly for talking about the chief’s relationship with Patterson.
