Two Bella Vista police detectives fired

BELLA VISTA — Police Department detectives Clayton Roberts and Mike Kugler have been fired in connection with an investigation into evidence mishandling.

Police Chief James Graves said he can’t elaborate because the investigation is ongoing. Often, he said, evidence issues have to do with the chain of custody.

Some issues, he said, were first noticed Dec. 11, prompting the department to check further.

“There were some additional discrepancies,” Graves said.

The department needed an outside look, he said, and talked with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. Two investigators were brought in Dec. 19, he said, and they identified detectives Kugler and Roberts as being involved in the evidence issues. Both employees were fired Dec. 20.

“They were terminated from employment based on what we saw and code of conduct violations,” Graves said.

The detective positions, he said, are likely to be filled by promoting from within the department.

Graves said he’s proud of his department for being able to discover an issue and resolve it internally in a relatively short time.

The department, he said, will continue working with the Sheriff’s Office to determine the extent evidence issues and how many cases may be affected.

Benton County prosecutor Nathan Smith said the investigation has two primary aspects — whether a crime has been committed and whether cases will be affected by mishandling of evidence.

The Police Department, he said, is doing auditing all evidence to discover what may have been affected.

“Are there cases out there that Bella Vista has worked that, because of the mishandling of evidence, can’t be prosecuted or have to be addressed some other way?” Smith said.

When the investigation closes, he said, any effects on evidence will need to be disclosed to defendants’ attorneys.

It’s important to note, he said, that this isn’t likely to affect any murder cases. The majority of affected cases, he said, will be drug cases.

Smith said he’s glad to see the department working to resolve the issues. Having a problem, he said, shows less than how one responds to it.

“At this point, the criminal investigation is still ongoing. It’s a significant issue that we’re going to have to deal with,” Smith said. “I think Bella Vista should be commended for being above-board about it.”