“An off-duty Temple Police Department corporal consumed alcohol before he was arrested and charged Tuesday for allegedly firing his weapon during a law-enforcement gathering in El Paso,” tdtnews.com reports. And what, pray tell, motivated this perfect picture of a peace keeper to clear leather? First, the who, what, when and where. “Cpl. Kenneth Lee Sheka, 28, is charged with deadly conduct/discharge of firearm, a third-degree felony, in connection with the incident at a hospitality event associated with the 2015 Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas convention.” And now the why . . .
El Paso Police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said Sheka made “crude remarks” of a sexual nature and inappropriately touched a female server at the adjacent Chase Suites Hotel, 6791 Montana Ave. The woman rebuked the corporal’s advances, told him not to touch her again and walked away, escorted by a man, when Sheka pulled out a pistol and fired one round into a wall, Carrillo said. Sheka was immediately subdued by other police officers in the hotel conference room.
So a simple case of pistol-packing petulance. At least the incident occurred in a room full of law enforcement officers – so there was no possibility of a coverup or the usual wrist-slap, right?
Sheka was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility with bond set at $2,500. It was not known whether he remained in jail by press time Wednesday.
His jail photo was not immediately released by El Paso Police, although the department generally posts many mug shots online. A police report about the incident also was not immediately released.
Temple Police learned of Sheka’s arrest on Wednesday.
Cpl. Christopher M. Wilcox, public information officer for the Temple Police Department, said the El Paso department will conduct a criminal investigation and forward its findings to the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.
Meanwhile, Temple Police will conduct an internal investigation through the department’s Professional Standards Unit.
“We expect our officers to adhere to our code of conduct,” Wilcox said. “We expect our officers to be professional and courteous, on or off duty, whether they’re in uniform or not.”
Temple Police standards include gun usage and training against sexual harassment, Wilcox said.
Did they say training against sexual harassment? Just checking. Anyway, for not knowing his target and what was beyond it, Cpl. Kenneth Lee Sheka gets TTAG’s IGOTD award delivered by a VERY butch mailperson. Meanwhile, let’s hope Cpl. Sheka didn’t get groped during booking. That would be terrible.