A Bellevue Police lieutenant was terminated Thursday for allegedly falsifying a document submitted with a worker’s compensation claim and lying about it during an investigation.
Police Lt. Lisa Flores assisted in the arrest of a combative woman at the Bellevue Collection on Feb. 5, 2012, which resulted in her being kicked by the suspect twice in her right knee. Another lieutenant filed a Force Response Review following the incident.
Nearly a year later, Flores experienced a health-related issue while at the gym that later required medical treatment. Believing it was related to the February incident, Flores submitted a claim with the state department of Labor and Industries on March 8, 2013.
According her notice of termination, Flores allegedly forged a new Force Response Review, backdated to Feb. 5, 2012, and submitted it with other documents as part of her worker’s compensation claim. The forged FRR included a marked a box indicating an officer had been injured during the incident at the Bellevue Collection, which was not part of the original report, according to her notice of termination.
“The unofficial FRR has different control tactics listed than the official FRR and omits that Lt. Flores struck the suspect with her foot approximately one time on the back of (her) knee to reduce resistance,” according to the termination notice.
Flores’ use of force was deemed acceptable as described in the official Force Response Review, and the notice of termination states Flores’ motivation for falsifying the document was to avoid losing pay while undergoing treatment for her injured knee. As of Jan. 1, 2013, Flores had only 40 hours of paid leave time available.
“… It is evident you provided (the city’s worker’s compensation self insured administrator) with additional documentation on March 8, 2013 as she suggested to overcome the possible denial of your worker’s compensation claim and the associated negative financial consequences,” according to the termination notice provided to Flores by interim Police Chief Jim Montgomery. “You have had a number of worker’s compensation claims where you received time loss payments because (of) your inability to work.”
Flores repeatedly denied forging the document during an internal investigation, which also called into question inaccurate timelines provided by the former police lieutenant as to when she became aware of her injuries and connected it to the February 2012 incident.
“The deception you used in creating and submitting the document as an official BPD form causes distrust in your work product,” Montgomery wrote in the notice of termination. “The deception used when questioned about the form is even more disturbing as to your code of ethics when confronted by your employer.”
Police Ofc. Seth Tyler said the matter is being treated solely as a personnel matter, and no criminal charges are expected to occur due to Flores’ alleged forging of official police documents and deceit during the investigation. Flores had been with the department for 19 years.
Flores’ termination occurred the same day five Bellevue police chief finalists were scheduled to meet with the public. Following a media event with the finalists on Friday, Montgomery said he wanted to leave the Bellevue Police Department in good order for when the new police chief takes command.
“If an unpopular decision has to be made, I want to make it now,” Montgomery said. “I’m not going to leave a difficult disciplinary decision hanging.”
