Othello police investigation continues
Local Crime News
OTHELLO - Two Othello Police Department officers were recently reinstated after being placed on paid administrative leave in December. One officer remained on leave Tuesday as part of the investigation.
It started when the police department received a complaint of three off-duty police officers allegedly being involved in an altercation with another group of people in the 1100 block of South Third Avenue in Othello, Police Chief Phil Schenck said
Schenck said he could not go into detail on the specifics of the incident because the investigation is still open. He did not release the names of the three officers.
The three officers were immediately placed on paid administrative leave on Dec. 10.
The Columbia Basin Investigative Team (CBIT) was initially called to investigate the officer-involved incident. According to the City of Moses Lake, the CBIT consists of investigators from the Moses Lake, Quincy, Ephrata and Othello police departments, as well as investigators from the Grant and Adams County Sheriff's departments and the Washington State Patrol. The CBIT usually investigates officer-involved shootings, major accidents, and major use-of-force incidents in which there are injuries, as well as assisting in homicide investigations.
"We learned this incident did not qualify for the CBIT so we notified the Moses Lake Police Department and Grant County Sheriff's Office of the incident and asked them to investigate," said Schenck.
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