2 Arkansas deputies quit over missing $800, report says

Two Carroll County deputies resigned earlier this month after failing lie-detector tests regarding $800 that disappeared during the arrest of a man suspected of driving while intoxicated, according to information released Wednesday under a Freedom of Information request filed by this newspaper.

Deputies Justin Snyder and Janet Galland resigned June 2, an internal investigation report from the Carroll County sheriff's office says.

The resignations stem from the May 7 arrest of Neil Zabel of Harrison, whose Chevrolet HHR was stopped on Arkansas 21 north of Urbanette by deputies who suspected that Zabel was driving while intoxicated, the report indicates.

Zabel said he placed about $800 -- including seven $100 bills -- on the passenger seat of his vehicle while removing his driver's license from his wallet to show the deputies, the report says.

Zabel was given a field sobriety test and arrested. By that time, two additional deputies had arrived at the scene, the report says.

According to the report, Snyder wrote in a May 23 memo that he saw Zabel's wad of money and figured it was $300 to $400.

"He advised Zabel that he did not want his money but he needed his driver's license," according to the internal investigation. Snyder said he didn't see exactly where Zabel put the money, whether it was near the center console or on the passenger seat.

Synder told Zabel that his money would be safe in his vehicle, which was towed from the scene, the report says.

"Deputy Snyder was informed by Zabel that he wanted his money out of his car," according to the report. "Snyder advised him that it would still be there when he got out of jail. Snyder stated that no one was going to take his money."

After he was released from jail the next day, Zabel went to get his car from the impound lot of G&I Towing in Berryville, and the money was gone, the report says. An employee of the towing company said no money was in the vehicle when workers picked it up, the report says. Zabel went back to the sheriff's office and filed a theft report.

Deputy Jeremy Berner, who took an inventory of Zabel's vehicle, told Snyder that he found no money in it, according the report and to Snyder's May 23 account of what happened.

Investigator Buster Rinks of the Arkansas State Police was called in to administer polygraph tests June 1. Zabel and Berner passed, the report says. Snyder and Galland didn't, according to the internal investigation.

"Due to the failed polygraph and the violation of policies and procedures, both deputies were given the opportunity to resign," according to the report, referring to Snyder and Galland.

Both deputies began working for the sheriff's office in 2015.

Carroll County patrol cars aren't equipped with dashboard cameras, so there is "no physical evidence to be presented for a criminal case in this matter," according to the internal investigation.

"The Sheriff's Office has presented a check in the amount of $800 to Neil Zabel to replace the money that was unable to be found," according to the report.

"We've done our investigation. Two deputies lost their jobs," said Sheriff Randy Mayfield. "It didn't reach the threshold where we could arrest them. I would have arrested them in a minute if we could have proven the case, and I have in the past. We're an integrity-based, transparent agency. We have nothing to hide."

Mayfield said Zabel has yet to be arraigned or to enter a plea in the DWI case.

Carroll County prosecutor Tony Rogers said he has asked the state police to do a full investigation into the missing money.

"We have sent a written request via fax and via the U.S. mail to the state police Criminal Investigation Unit in Little Rock," Rogers said Wednesday. "They are still weighing the decision whether to open a criminal investigation or not."

Metro on 06/30/2016

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