Chattanooga Police Department Chief Fred Fletcher speaks at a news conference at the Police Services Center on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Chattanooga in the aftermath of a Tuesday night shooting in the 800 block of North Willow Street that killed 20-year-old Frederick Jordan Clark.Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher fired an officer for unbecoming conduct and dishonesty on Friday, saying the officer got into several domestic disputes with the mother of his child and used a law enforcement database to run a records search on the woman’s boyfriend’s father.
Former officer Lukasz Balazy fought with the mother of his child at least 10 times between June 2014 and May 2015, and law enforcement officers responded to those disputes at least three times, according to the letter of termination Fletcher penned on Friday.
In June 2014, deputies from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of “aggressive physical contact” between Balazy and the woman, the letter states. He was not arrested.
And in November 2014, the woman again claimed Balazy physically assaulted her, but retracted that claim when Signal Mountain police arrived. Balazy allegedly punched her laptop during the altercation and broke it, but was not arrested.
In February 2015, Balazy used a law enforcement database to “improperly and without justification” conduct a records search on the father of the woman’s new boyfriend, according to the letter.
“It is my concern that your pattern of behavior during the past 10 months reflects negatively upon the Chattanooga Police Department and this decision is made in an attempt to avoid potentially serious issues going forward unless your behavior is corrected,” Fletcher wrote in the letter.
Balazy also gave conflicting statements to investigators about whether or not he put the woman in a headlock. He told internal affairs investigators that he never put the woman in a headlock but told his supervisors that he might have.
This is not the first time Balazy has been reprimanded for such allegations, Fletcher noted in the letter.
“Some of the incidents in this case are also similar to actions which resulted in an oral reprimand before you came to this department from the Clarksville Police Department in 2012,” Fletcher wrote.
Balazy could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He has 15 days to appeal the termination. He was hired as a Chattanooga patrol officer in 2013.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.