Cleveland's ex-Police Chief Dennis Maddux cruising around a neighboring county with his subordinate's wife in a borrowed dark blue Cadillac is not the problem. Neither is the two's affair.
The problem is the pile of lies. And the failure to follow police department policy.
Cleveland police officer Jeff Griggs, Lt. Steve Tyson and Maddux each face termination for violating department policy over that February car ride and subsequent events, according to an internal affairs investigation released Wednesday.
Investigators found that Griggs and Maddux each lied about the events that happened involving that car ride on Feb. 28. Lying violates Cleveland Police Department policy, which states "members must speak the truth at all times ... this department will not tolerate any form of lying, and if an employee is found to lie he/she will receive discipline up to and including termination."
The investigation finds all three men committed Class A policy violations, which according to the department's policy "will result in termination unless there are mitigating factors involved to justify reduction of punishment."
Cleveland City Manager Janice Casteel is charged with the responsibility of terminating and disciplining all city employees. She has not said what she is going to do with the investigation's findings, and did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Text messages recovered in the investigation dated March 2 show Casteel telling Maddux, "I want to talk with you in person, Dennis. You will still have a job."
The investigation was initiated after the February car ride, which Maddux told investigators from the sheriff's department and 10th Judicial District Attorney's office was a normal occurrence for him and Cindy Griggs, who works for Cleveland Utilities and was assigned to work at the police department. Cindy Griggs' office is across the hall from Maddux's.
Initially, Maddux denied the affair -- but, in future interviews both he and Cindy admitted they had been having sexual relations in Maddux's car for months.
But, on that February afternoon Maddux said the two were not having sex and were just driving around Calhoun sharing "general conversation." Cindy Griggs told investigators she met Maddux that day because she wanted to tell him about issues she was having at home and answer some of his questions regarding bruises he'd spotted on her arm.
After the approximately 20-minute drive, the two returned to Cindy's parked car and shared a hug, and possibly a kiss, and then were interrupted by Jeff Griggs, shouting profanity and snapping pictures of the pair.
Soon after the shouting began, Maddux drove away, leaving Cindy with her husband. During the internal investigation that followed, Maddux told investigators he suspected Jeff Griggs abused his wife. By driving away and not reporting domestic violence, Maddux violated department policy, according to the IA report.
Jeff Griggs told his wife he took pictures of her and Maddux kissing. Cindy managed to grab the camera from him and removed the memory card, splitting his lip in the process and cutting her hand. She ran to a nearby house and cut up the card with borrowed scissors.
Investigators found that Jeff Griggs lied about where he was that afternoon and how he'd located his wife's car, which the report suggests he found using a tracking device.
Following the afternoon's incident, Jeff Griggs was arrested twice -- once on his wife's allegation of domestic violence, and again when he went to the couple's home despite a protective order. Both of those charges have been dropped.
Both Jeff Griggs and Maddux are on paid suspension, and Maddux was demoted to captain. The investigation also found that Maddux previously had an affair in 2001, also with another officer's wife.
From left, Jeff Griggs, Cindy Griggs and Dennis MadduxTyson was found in violation of the department's "Failing to Report Violations" policy, as he did not notify his superior after witnessing Jeff Griggs' second arrest.
This incident is not the first one to be recorded in Tyson's file. The 27-year veteran of the Cleveland Police Department was fired for violations of its alcohol and drug policy in July of last year after testing positive on a random drug screening. He was rehired in August.
Following his dismissal, his family, friends and co-workers said in a packed City Council meeting that Tyson's only mistake was taking one of his son's prescription pain pills to relieve the pain caused by a kidney stone. Due to the uproar, Tyson was reinstated after the council voted 6-0 to have him reinstated.
District Attorney General Steve Crump said no criminal charges will be brought against any of the three men in connection with the results of the IA investigation. Crump's office coordinated the investigation, which was conducted by the TBI and McMinn and Bradley County sheriff's offices.
Cleveland City Councilman David May said he trusts Casteel to handle the situation. Several other council members declined comment Wednesday.
But, Vice Mayor George Poe does not think the situation needs to be handled at all.
"This incident keeps on and on and on and makes the city look bad, it makes everybody look bad," he said. " ... I think everybody should just go back to work and let's get the job done."
Poe said that what an officer does on his off-time is no one else's business, and that he is not surprised that lies were told regarding the affair.
"[An affair] is something 99.9 percent of people would lie about," Poe said. "It's all got blown out of proportion. It should never be in the press."
Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.