The Arkansas State Police said Thursday that it had finished investigating a complaint against a trooper who’d been accused of writing a traffic citation last year as payback.
Jericho Police Chief Roy Hill filed a complaint May 10 that accused state police Cpl. Mickey Strayhorn of stopping an on-duty officer and ticketing the officer for speeding and failure to wear a seat belt. Hill said Strayhorn wrote the ticket as retaliation; the small police department in Crittenden County had cited Strayhorn’s son for speeding two weeks earlier.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler said Thursday that the agency had completed an investigation and Strayhorn had not been suspended, demoted or fired over the complaint. Lower punishments, such as verbal or written reprimands, are not public under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Records pertaining to lower punishments are also exempt from release.
Sadler, citing the public records law, declined to discuss specifics of the investigation.
“In general terms, the office of professional standards makes every effort to talk to individuals who may file a complaint or may be witnesses … and then also review the applicable state police policies and state laws that may apply,” Sadler said.
Strayhorn, who joined state police in 1992, remained on duty after the complaint was filed. He’s assigned to Troop D of the state police Highway Patrol division in Forrest City. His patrol area includes Jericho, a town of about 114 residents along Arkansas 77 between Clarkedale and Marion.
Hill, who is in his seventh year as Jericho police chief, had been seeking criminal charges against Strayhorn for “abuse of power and authority,” the complaint states.
“Trooper Strayhorn made a direct point to come to Jericho to do what he did,” he wrote.
Hill declined to comment Thursday.
According to Hill’s complaint, Jericho police cited Strayhorn’s son for speeding in February 2016 and again in March. The first ticket was dismissed through a “courtesy request” from the Crittenden County sheriff’s office, the complaint states. The second was not.
Strayhorn reportedly pulled over Jericho police officer Manuel Borjorn the afternoon of May 5 and wrote the on-duty officer a warning citation for driving more than 15 mph over the posted speed limit. He also wrote Borjorn a citation for failure to wear a seat belt.
“I gave you a warning, OK? You got to wear your seat belt. None of us are exempt,” Strayhorn reportedly told Borjorn, a three-year veteran of the department. “Speeding is a serious thing.”
Drivers and passengers are required to wear seat belts under Arkansas law.
There is no exemption listed for law enforcement officers.