A state Highway Patrol trooper who was at the home of a Chatham County lawyer in August when a man attacked her has been demoted and transferred, not fired, the patrol says.
Anthony Scott, who then patrolled Chatham County, was a target of the lawyer's estranged husband, Eric Andrews, according to court documents. The documents say Eric Andrews was planning to kill Jennifer Andrews; Scott, who he suspected was her lover; and then himself.
Last month, patrol Commander Randy Glover demoted Scott, a 15-year veteran, and reassigned him to Charlotte. Glover would not say why, calling the action a personnel matter.
Patrol officials confirmed that a trooper on duty was at the Pittsboro home during the assault, and not on official business. There's no indication in the court records or in a domestic violence complaint filed by Jennifer Andrews that the trooper acted to protect her or the Andrews' two young children, who were at the home during the confrontation.
The previous two patrol commanders fired troopers who were caught in affairs on duty. Through a spokesman, Glover said he has not wavered on that policy.
Patrol spokesman Capt. Everett Clendenin said there's no policy that dictates that a trooper be fired just for being with someone while on duty.
"Sex on duty is a firing offense, and we're not backing off on that," Clendenin said. "The key word is proven."
He would not address the question of whether Scott could have intervened with Eric Andrews.
New patrol leader
In June, Gov. Bev Perdue pushed out the previous commander and appointed Glover commander. In 1987, Glover was caught in an extramarital affair off duty with a Harnett County sheriff's dispatcher, causing him to be transferred to a station in New Bern.
Perdue has said the affair is irrelevant when it comes to Glover's abilities to lead the Highway Patrol.
Glover's affair could affect other patrol cases and Scott's might be the first test. Scott has appealed the demotion to N.C. Crime Control Secretary Reuben Young, patrol officials say. If the appeal is denied, Scott can then file a complaint with the Office of Administrative Hearings, raising the possibility that Glover will have to explain his decision in public.
A Raleigh lawyer representing a trooper fired in 2008 for showing a photo of a young boy doctored to show him with an abnormally large penis said Scott appeared to have gotten a break.
"The inference I draw from this," said the lawyer, Woody Webb, "is either the trooper was engaged in some nefarious activity with this lady, or he did not act appropriately in exercising his duties as a law-enforcement official and he was therefore demoted. It was clearly a combustible situation that had violence written all over it, a weapon involved, and yet he's demoted, while my client, who has one lapse of judgment in a 19-year career, is dismissed."
Troopers fooling around both on and off duty have created a black eye for the 1,800 member patrol - so much so that two years ago, the state paid $98,000 for an independent review of the patrol's personnel practices. One of the problems, the report found, was a lack of supervision.
Scott was demoted from master trooper, which pays a salary of $56,330, to trooper, which pays $48,983.
Scott could not be reached for comment. Jennifer Andrews declined to comment.
One of Eric Andrews' lawyers, Tommy Manning of Raleigh, said neither he nor his client would comment. Andrews faces assault and kidnapping charges and is free on $300,000 bond.
Incident in Chatham
The Andrewses legally separated Aug.2 after 12 years of marriage. In court papers, Eric Andrews said that his actions Aug.14 "occurred in the context of a domestic separation and followed [his] being informed that his wife was involved with another man."
The court documents, filed as part of the case against Eric Andrews, say that he put a handgun to his wife's head and told her that three people were about to die: "He was going to kill [her], Anthony Scott, and then himself."
Eric Andrews drove from the house with the couple's two children, telling them that he had the gun because "mommy was with a man," according to a domestic violence complaint filed by Jennifer Andrews. He drove to the sheriff's department and was arrested.
State personnel law allows public officials to keep secret many of the details involving employee misconduct. But state agency heads have the discretion under the law to disclose those details when an agency's integrity is at stake.
The News & Observer has asked Young, the Crime Control secretary, to release the records. Patrol spokesman Clendenin said Young will not take up the request until he handles Scott's appeal.
News researcher Denise Jones contributed to this report.
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