Austin police officer fired after domestic incident,

Anthony Nolen also lied to investigators, internal probe says.

Austin police fired an officer Friday after an investigation found he assaulted his girlfriend, lied to police on several occasions and worked to undermine an internal investigation into his actions.

A memorandum from Austin police Chief Art Acevedo says that former Officer Anthony No- len was insubordinate and brought discredit upon the police department by making several false reports to other police agencies over a domestic dispute between Nolen and his girlfriend.

Nolen was a patrol officer assigned to West Austin.

He became a commissioned officer with Austin police in 2009.

He has 10 days to file an appeal of his dismissal.

The false reports stemmed from a dispute over the ownership of a dog Nolen and his girl- friend — who is referred to as Ms. H in the disciplinary memo — had purchased together.

As their relationship became more tumultuous, Nolen made several burglary complaints against Ms. H with the Williamson County sheriff ’s office and Round Rock police when she would enter his home and take the dog, the memo said.

However, the investigation showed the woman had free access to Nolen’s home and she had proof that the dog was owned by both of them, the memo said.

From March 2014 through November, Williamson County deputies visited Nolen’s home eight times, and as the reports piled up, sergeants from the sheriff ’s office began making complaints with Austin police about Nolen’s behavior, the memo said.

Then, on Dec. 12, Nolen assaulted his girlfriend at his home.

Nolen secretly recorded video of the event, which shows him pushing Ms. H and causing her to fall and injure her ankle, the memo said.

Ms. H made a report with police the next day, but later decided not to press charges, the memo said.

On two occasions in early 2015, the Austin police Internal Affairs Unit notified Nolen that he was under investigation and directed him not to contact any material witnesses in the investigation, including Ms. H.

However, Nolen contacted her numerous times and advised her not to sign a transcript of her interview with internal affairs, as it may work in his favor during arbitration.

Nolen admitted to talking to Ms. H as recently as June 4, when he learned that internal affairs had determined he had violated department rules.