A Cincinnati police officer put on desk duty after comments he made during the investigation of the death of Roger Owensby Jr. was transferred because of alleged dishonesty.

        Chief Tom Streicher became concerned, the department announced Tuesday, during a briefing last week about the progress of the internal investigation into Mr. Owensby's death. After speaking to members of the Internal Investigation Section, the chief “became concerned about an issue of dishonesty” related to Officer Victor Spellen's statements.

        Dishonesty, the chief stressed in a memo sent two months ago to all 1,020 officers, will not be tolerated, and any officer who lies can expect to be terminated. That came after the chief said an internal investigation revealed that Officer Stephen Roach told two different stories to homicide investigators about his fatal shooting of Timothy Thomas, an incident that sparked four days of protests and riots in April 2001.

        Officer Spellen, 34, on the force since July 1999, was immediately transferred to the department's telephone crime reporting unit, a common spot for officers to wait for the outcomes of internal investigations into their behavior.

        Officer Spellen was not directly involved in Mr. Owensby's arrest Nov. 7, 2000. He arrived after the suspected drug dealer was in custody. He said his reassignment came because of “complications” during the investigation, but he would not be more specific.

        The mobile video recorder in Officer Spellen's car recorded Officer Robert “Blaine” Jorg as he described how he held Mr. Owensby's head in a “wrap.” Officer Jorg was acquitted of assault, but the jury could not decide on the more significant manslaughter charge.

        Lt. Kurt Byrd, department spokesman, said he couldn't be more specific about Officer Spellen's alleged dishonesty.

        Lt. Byrd said the full internal review would be released soon. The department might, he said, unveil it in the same highly public way it did the Roach investigation — with a presentation to council members at City Hall.

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