Badges - Off-duty N.J. State Police officer used his undercover ID when he hit SUV
- From: CarlGlas@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: badges@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 17:33:58 -0500
LAWNSIDE - Two years ago on a darkened stretch of
South Jersey highway, Clayton Tanksley was almost
killed when his SUV was rammed from behind and
sent tumbling to the side of the road ? by a man who doesn?t exist.
"He hit me hard enough to crush the back of the
car like an accordion," said Tanksley, 46. "It
was like a shark attack. It?s so sudden, out of the blue."
The accident, on Route 295 in Camden County, left
Tanksley with a demolished car, back problems and recurring flashbacks.
"In the middle of night, everything is calm and
peaceful," Tanksley said. "And then you live
through it again. Even the smells."
According to the State Police crash report, a man
named William Gillespie was behind the wheel of
the other car that night. As Tanksley?s medical
bills from the crash neared $30,000, his lawyer
filed a lawsuit against Gillespie.
But when it came time to serve him, Gillespie was
nowhere to be found. A private investigator
couldn?t find Gillespie at the home or business
listed on the State Police report of the
accident, and the insurance company named did not
recognize the information about his car.
It was as if Gillespie didn?t exist, and for good reason ? he doesn?t.
Through a series of interviews and a trail of
documents, The Star-Ledger has learned that
Gillespie is the undercover name for State Police
Detective Sgt. William Billingham and that his
true identity was withheld from Tanksley ? in
violation of State Police policy ? leaving
Tanksley and his lawyer to go on a prolonged wild
goose chase for a phantom. The newspaper also
found that Billingham?s fellow troopers provided
Tanksley?s insurance company with fictional and incomplete information.
In fact, Tanksley ? an actor who has appeared in
movies and on television in "The Cosby Show"
under the name Clayton Prince ? had no idea who
really hit him until The Star-Ledger tracked him
to his Philadelphia home in April.
Tanksley?s lawyers are considering a lawsuit
against the state claiming his civil rights were violated.
"It looks like a cover-up," attorney Charles
Nugent said. "There?s no innocent explanation for it, as far as I?m concerned."
Questioned outside his South Jersey home
Saturday, Billingham would say only that his
lawyer had instructed him not to comment on the case.
While Billingham?s identity was a secret to the
man he could have killed, memos between ranking
State Police officers show that trooper brass
were well-informed about the crash. So were
prosecutors: Billingham, an 18-year veteran of
the division, has been the subject of internal
and criminal investigations into the accident,
but they have inched their way through the legal system.
He eventually was suspended without pay and
charged with assault by auto on March 4 ? two
years after the crash ? and prosecutors say
there?s evidence he was drunk behind the wheel.
His lawyer, Steven Secare, declined to comment on
the allegations except to say Billingham is pleading not guilty.
Tanksley and his lawyers were unaware of any
inquiry until they were told by The Star-Ledger.
"No one told me there was any investigation," he said.
Two sources said state investigators are also
probing the way troopers responded to the predawn
crash, starting with the undercover name on the
crash report, obtained by the newspaper.
The troopers wrote in their report that
Billingham, 51, was not tested for alcohol. There
were no charges filed or tickets issued,
according to the report and motor vehicle records.
Details of the accident ? including that
Billingham was off-duty and driving an unmarked
troop car ? were forwarded to superior officers,
including State Police Superintendent Rick
Fuentes. But sources said the accident might
never have been examined if not for an anonymous
letter alerting the Attorney General?s Office to
the conduct of Billingham and the other troopers who protected him.
The criminal case against Billingham is now being
handled by the Ocean County Prosecutor?s Office,
but it didn?t arrive there until almost a year
after the crash. (Camden County authorities
passed on the case to avoid the appearance of a
conflict of interest because Billingham?s brother is the sheriff there.)
It was another year before Billingham was
charged. By that time, the statute of limitations
rendered it too late to file a charge of driving
under the influence. The State Police say they
will not comment because the case is still under
investigation. Pressed by The Star-Ledger,
spokesman acting Maj. Gerald Lewis said, "We?re
going to try and rectify this and figure out exactly what happened."
THE CRASH
The night was clear and the road was dry as
Tanksley drove south on Route 295 at 2:23 a.m. on
March 22, 2009. He doesn?t recall any headlights behind him.
Suddenly, he said, there was a screech and
another car slammed into the back of his SUV. The
rear axle snapped and his vehicle rolled over,
coming to rest upside-down on the highway.
"Thank God for my seat belt," Tanksley said. "I was dangling like a puppet."
The crash was so bad the State Police dispatched
its fatal accident unit to the scene. The
Department of Transportation shut down all three
southbound lanes and nearby towns sent emergency services.
Tanksley was concerned for another reason ? he
had a pistol locked in a box in the back of his
SUV, and the crash had thrown it loose. He said
he placed the firearm in his glove compartment
and told a trooper about it. Tanksley said the
.32-caliber pistol was legally purchased in
Pennsylvania, where he has a carry permit, but
not registered in New Jersey, which has much
stricter gun laws. He said the trooper told him not to worry.
Tanksley, cut and bruised, was placed in an
ambulance. But suddenly the trooper ran up to
him. "He said the other guy is hurt worse than
you, get out," Tanksley recalled.
He caught a glimpse of the other driver, who
suffered six broken ribs, before the ambulance
sped away to Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
At this point, Tanksley had no idea who hit him.
And he wasn?t going to learn that from the
official crash report. Troopers wrote down the
undercover information for Billingham, including
a false name, address and company.
Three sources with knowledge of State Police
procedures said troopers working undercover are
issued fake identification cards but are supposed
to use them only to protect an investigation.
Once it is clear that an investigation won?t be
jeopardized, troopers are supposed to correct the
record, they said. (The sources requested
anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.)
A trooper wrote in the crash report that
Billingham "apparently fell asleep," which was
echoed word for word by a statement Billingham
signed. There?s no description of how fast he was driving.
At the top of the report obtained by the
newspaper, a trooper indicated the full document
was three pages long. But when Tanksley?s
insurance company received a copy, it had been
modified to say it was only two pages. That copy
did not include the diagram of the accident ?
which correctly identified Gillespie as
Billingham. (Both reports were obtained by The Star-Ledger.)
The report was sent to the insurance company not
from State Police division headquarters in Ewing
but the trooper station in Bellmawr.
"I?ve never seen that happen before," said
Jeffrey Pooner, a lawyer who is also representing
Tanksley. "It just smells real bad."
PAPER TRAIL
Meanwhile, there was a very different paper trail
inside the State Police. Three weeks after the
accident, superior officers circulated a memo
outlining details of the incident, although alcohol wasn?t mentioned.
The memo, dated April 10, 2009, said Billingham
"was at fault in the operation of unmarked troop
car 4898" during the accident. It said that he
should be "held accountable" and that the
accident should be classified as "preventable."
Another memo was addressed to Fuentes, the State
Police superintendent, listing both fictional and
accurate information for Billingham. Shown the
document on Thursday, Fuentes said he did not
recognize it, but said he is informed of every
crash involving a state trooper. He declined
further comment, citing the ongoing internal investigation.
The probe now under way at the Attorney General?s
Office started when an anonymous letter alerted
investigators, according to two sources with knowledge of the case.
The state sent the investigation into Billingham
to the Camden County Prosecutor?s Office in
October 2009, according to Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the prosecutor.
To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest
because Billingham?s brother is the Camden County
sheriff, the case was transferred to Ocean County
about two months later, Laughlin said.
Then it took more than a year for charges to be
filed against Billingham. A criminal complaint
was filed in municipal court in Lawnside, where
the accident occurred, charging him with assault
by auto causing serious injury.
Billingham?s lawyer said his client has not been
indicted and is entering a not-guilty plea. He
declined to comment on any of the other allegations in the case.
Although the criminal complaint said Billingham
was under the influence during the crash, the
90-day period in which a drunken driving charge
could be filed had expired, under the statute of limitations.
"It took awhile for (the case) to get to us,"
said Steven Cucci, the assistant prosecutor
handling the case. "It bounced around a little bit."
He declined to specify what kind of evidence shows that Billingham was drunk.
The complaint does not identify Billingham as a trooper.
OTHER CHARGES
The day after the accident, Tanksley said he was
told to report to the State Police station to
pick up his belongings, including his gun.
But when he arrived, he was arrested and charged
with weapons possession because he did not have a permit in New Jersey.
"I was like, are you kidding?" Tanksley said. "I
get nailed from behind, and now I?m looking at a felony charge?"
Lewis, the State Police spokesman, declined
comment on why Tanksley was charged and not Billingham.
The case was assigned to the Camden County
Prosecutor?s Office, and Tanksley was allowed
into pretrial intervention. He received probation
and completed his community service requirement.
The weapons charge derailed Tanksley?s plan to
become a Philadelphia police officer. He said he
withdrew from the application process when he had to disclose the incident.
"For the first time in my life, I recently was
arrested and I am currently on probation," he
wrote on a police department form.
"That was my last chance," said Tanksley, who is
now too old to apply to the force. "I had to turn down being a cop."
Billingham, although suspended, is still employed by the State Police.
Source:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/off-duty_nj_state_police_offic.html
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