Photographs of the wrecked Taurus show a hole about 8 inches round ripped in the left front bumper, a flat tire on the right side and a bent hood that won't close. The marks left in the gray paint are deep grooves.

Lt. Col. Ronald Twitty's damaged car | ZOOM |

        The evidence has led Cincinnati police investigators to think the city-owned car at the center of the suspension of the only black assistant police chief hit something concrete. They also want to know why the impact didn't move the car even slightly from its parallel-parked position in Bond Hill.

        And what the photographs, reviewed Tuesday by the Enquirer, don't show might be equally as important: There's no debris, which officials say always falls onto the ground at the point of impact.

        Lt. Col. Ron Twitty called police at 6:53 a.m. on July 4 and reported that the 2001 gray Ford had been damaged in a hit-skip accident outside his Bond Hill home, according to the initial police report, which was released by authorities Tuesday. It shows that Lt. Col. Twitty waited until 7:18 a.m. for Officer Ralph Berry to arrive, and Sgt. Thomas Reid showed up shortly thereafter. Officials of the city garage also were notified and responded.

Lt. Col. Ronald Twitty's damaged car | ZOOM |

        The report says Lt. Col. Twitty said the car was hit during the night. It says little else, except that

        the incident was reported in the daytime and the weather was clear. The report did not give a damage estimate.

        The report offered the only new details to come out since Lt. Col. Twitty's paid suspension was announced Friday, prompting an outcry locally and nationally, including cancellation of the 5,000-delegate National Urban League's 2003 convention.

        Police Chief Tom Streicher said he put the officer he has known for nearly 30 years on paid administrative leave because there is a question about his honesty in his report of the wreck. The chief also asked Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis to take over the investigation, saying he didn't want any perception of a conflict of interest

        City Manager Valerie Lemmie on Tuesday defended the city's handling of the investigation, but said she also found it “refreshing” that so many city residents have rallied around Lt. Col. Twitty.

        “There's a tremendous amount of respect for Lt. Col. Twitty. His record as a public safety officer cannot be questioned by anyone,” Ms. Lemmie said. “I know there's a tremendous outpouring of concern for him, and I hope that the investigation would validate his integrity.”

        Speaking from a mountaintop resort outside Geneva, Switzerland, where she's speaking to an international conference on racial reconciliation in cities, Ms. Lemmie responded to the growing controversy over the suspension of the city's highest-ranking black officer. Many in the African-American community have alleged that the city has treated Lt. Col. Twitty unfairly by calling a press conference to discuss the incident and suspending him during the investigation.

        Ms. Lemmie said she did not know of the allegations against the assistant chief until Friday, just before she left for Geneva. After Chief Streicher presented the evidence to her, she said she was satisfied the chief handled the case as he would any other.

        “I was not asked for my permission or approval. It's within his duties as a police chief,” Ms. Lemmie said.

        She said it's difficult to find a precedent for the city's action, because there's never been an allegation exactly like the one against Lt. Col. Twitty. And she said the Twitty case was different in that he is the highest-ranking officer to come under scrutiny in recent history and because of the chief's own pronouncement to City Council in March that “dishonesty cannot and will not be tolerated.” .

        In other cases in which officers are the subject of a criminal investigation, officers have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome, Ms. Lemmie said.

        The city manager also responded Tuesday to comments from Mayor Charlie Luken that he was “embarrassed” to say he didn't know about the allegations until three hours before the public did.

        “I appreciate the mayor's comments,” she said. “We can often look back on what transpired and find better ways of doing it.”

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