RALEIGH -- Wake sheriff's deputies charged a Durham police officer last week with breaking into a Wake County home and telling the people there that a person he was seeking would be dead by the end of the day if they did not reveal his whereabouts.
Stephen Patrick Commander Jr., 31, of Oxford, has been charged with one felony count each of breaking and entering, and extortion, according to an arrest warrant filed at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office.
Investigators have accused Commander of breaking into a residence at 16113 New Light Road in Wake Forest on Jan.27. Two people, Kimberly Ann Morgan and Harvey Curtis, were inside the home. The two told Wake investigators that Commander announced he was looking for Nazareth Hurst and that they "better tell me where Nazareth is or he will be dead by the end of the day," according to the arrest warrant.
Morgan, Curtis and Hurst could not be reached for comment Wednesday. It is unclear how Commander knew the three or why he was searching for Hurst.
Commander turned himself in to Wake deputies without incident on Jan. 29, according to Phyllis Stephens, a Wake County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. He was released from custody after posting $3,000 bail and ordered to have no contact with the people who were in the home, court records show.
Durham police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Commander was not on duty, nor was his search for Hurst part of any police investigation.
Commander made his first court appearance Tuesday in Wake County District Court. His case was continued until Feb. 23.
"We have no comment at this time," Logan Howell, Commander's attorney, said Wednesday.
Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez issued a statement Wednesday saying he was "deeply disappointed" by the recent arrests of Commander and another Durham officer, Sherrod Peace.
Peace, a 35-year-old former UNC-Chapel Hill football player, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on weapons and drug violations after he was charged Dec. 21 with distributing less than 5 grams of crack cocaine and possessing a .45-caliber handgun.
Michael said Commander joined the Durham department in January 2007. He works as a patrol officer and earns an annual salary of $38,850. He is still employed with the department pending an investigation by the department's professional standards and criminal investigation divisions, which is standard policy when an officer has been criminally charged. Michael declined to say whether Commander was actively on patrol.
Commander, reached by phone Wednesday, said he wanted to talk about the incident but had been advised not to comment.
"I wish I could, but I can't," he said.
