News
ST. PETERSBURG — Two St. Petersburg police officers were suspended Thursday for breaking department rules this summer, according to memos from police Chief Charles "Chuck" Harmon.
One of the officers, Christopher Sessions, is suspended for 16 workdays for falsifying overtime pay sheet information and conduct unbecoming an officer.
The other, Terrence Bell, got a 14-day suspension for lying to his supervisors about a burglary to his personal vehicle.
Both incidents took place in July. Bell and Sessions will not be paid while on suspension.
According to one of Harmon's memos, Sessions falsely logged 2 1/2 hours of overtime for work on July 11. He attributed the overtime to time spent in traffic court, when in fact he had not been able to get to court because of another investigation and spent those hours working on his police motorcycle.
Sessions contacted internal affairs to make an amended statement and clear up the inconsistencies, but the Chain of Command Board still found him to be in violation of several department and city rules.
In Bell's case, officials say he initially told his supervisors that a July 23 burglary of his personal car took place outside Bottom's Up, a gentlemen's club in Pinellas Park. Some of Bell's personal belongings and department-issued equipment was stolen from the trunk.
In fact, the burglary took place outside of Citrus Grove Apartments in St. Petersburg, the memo said.
Bell came forward with the truth the same day, the memo noted, but the board also found him in violation of department and city rules.
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