CMPD captain fights for job before board

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department captain began fighting for his job before the Charlotte Civil Service Board on Monday.

Capt. Chuck Adkins, a 21-year CMPD veteran, is accused of misconduct and neglect for not reporting an assault case to police when he was off-duty.

Adkins' wife, sister, mother, son and even members of his church were all inside the hearing at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

Adkins listened intently and took notes as his fellow officers testified they were surprised at his actions.

"We all have an obligation to report a crime," Detective Lee Tuttle said.

On the night of Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 in a northeast Charlotte neighborhood, police said a woman ran from a house on Pin Hook Road and came up to Adkins in his driveway, telling him she had been handcuffed and assaulted by her boyfriend.

City attorneys argued as an officer, Adkins should have reported it immediately, even though he was off-duty.

Instead she used his phone to call a male friend, who picked her up.

His attorney says he instructed her to get help.

"This man told her, 'Promise to call 911,'" attorney Marc Gustafson said.

Two days later, Adkins saw her photo in the newspaper as a missing person and contacted Tuttle.

Tuttle had been searching for the woman, a prostitute who had been kidnapped, since Thursday.

Adkins gave him the friend's phone number and Tuttle made contact with her. She was injured but was OK.

He said dozens of officers, including K9-units, had been involved in working the case, canvassing the area, and searching for her and said he wished they'd had the information sooner.

But Gustafson pointed out Adkins had taken a sleeping pill to prepare for a family trip the next day.

He pushed Tuttle on whether the detective believed Adkins was trying to violate policies.

"No, I don't think he was intentionally trying to do anything wrong," Tuttle said.

The hearing is expected to take at least two more days.

The five-person civil service board will deliberate on whether to overturn CMPD's decision to fire Adkins. It only needs a majority, not a unanimous vote, for a decision.

WSOC