Former detective arrested
Investigation continues
Clayton Roberts, a former Bella Vista police detective, was arrested and charged with seven counts each of controlled substances fraudulent practices and tampering with physical evidence last Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Roberts was terminated from the department in December of last year, along with Detective Mike Kugler, in connection with evidence handling issues.
The controlled substances fraudulent practices charges are Class C felonies, while the tampering charges were split between three misdemeanor charges and four Class D felony charges. Roberts has posted bail and has an arraignment scheduled Feb. 20 with Circuit Judge Robin Green.
According to a probable cause affidavit in connection with Roberts’ arrest, ranking officers from the Benton County Sherriff’s Office looked at specific discrepancies that came up in seven cases, all dealing with prescription medications that had been tampered with, in some cases being switched out with different pills.
Of these cases, digital records indicated Roberts had accessed four of them, including an unattended death case from June 2015 that he accessed multiple times in 2015 and 2016. Seventeen Hydrocodone pills came up missing.
In a different case from December 2016, according to the document, a single pill was seized during a felony arrest. The department photographs all medication before shipping it to the crime lab, according to the document, and the pill — consistent with an acetaminophen and Hydrocodone pill — did not match the size, color or shape of the pill the crime lab received. Additionally, according to the document, the evidence packet appeared to be tampered with, and Roberts had accessed the case.
The investigators interviewed Roberts on three occasions. Initially, according to the document, Roberts denied any wrongdoing when interviewed on Dec. 19, 2017. Investigators confronted him with evidence, according to the document, and he denied taking pills — though he also told investigators there would be no reason to repackage evidence that
was properly packaged already. Roberts also told investigators he came on the weekend to empty the drug takeback bin, and investigators told him they believed it would make more sense for someone already in the office to handle that task.
According to the document, Roberts requested to speak with investigators again.
“It was me,” he told them, according to the document.
According to the affidavit, Roberts told detectives he switched out pills and sought out cases that involved Oxycodone and Hydrocodone because he was addicted, starting shortly after he gained access to the evidence facility in 2015. He could not recall specific cases, according to the document, but may have taken medications from the evidence facility on more than 20 occasions.
Roberts reportedly told investigators he was responsible for any missing medications and this was also his sole reason for handling the drug takeback bin on weekends.
In a third interview, Dec. 20, Roberts told investigators the first case he could recall looking for medication was an unattended death case, according to the affidavit, and after a few times the habit became uncontrollable.
Roberts told investigators the other investigated detective, Mike Kugler, was, to the best of his knowledge, not aware of any wrongdoing.
Benton County prosecuting attorney Nathan Smith said that, currently, the investigation is ongoing and, as a result, he cannot comment on anything involving former Det. Kugler.
“As of yet, we’ve only developed probable cause to arrest Det. Roberts,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that nothing else will happen because the investigation is ongoing.”
It isn’t terribly common in Benton County for police to be arrested, he said, but it’s important that Roberts receive the same treatment as any other defendant — no better or worse, and it’s important to note that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty.
“Just like any other person investigated, Mr. Roberts is innocent until proven guilty,” Smith said.
Bella vista police chief James Graves said that he has tightened the department’s evidence handling policies to help ensure this does not happen again. Those policies, he said, were already in line with the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police guidelines, but every department is different and may need to adjust its policies to fit its own needs.
“It’s unfortunate what happened,” chief Graves said. The department’s audit, he said, is showing discrepancies in evidence handling as far back as 2015. Currently, he said, the department is performing a deep, thorough audit of all cases to ensure that no others were impacted.
The new evidence custodian, Master Sgt. Kelly Wallace, will be leading that audit, he said. He was put into the position, Graves said, in part because of his help during the initial audit and because he is experienced and well respected in the department.
If there’s a positive aspect to this, he said, it’s that the department has learned from the experience and will work to prevent issues like this in the future. Police are as imperfect as anyone, he said, and working to remedy a mistake is often a better measure of character than making one in the first place.
It’s important for a department to keep an open mind and continue learning and improving, he said.
“I’m still learning,” Graves said, noting he’s been in law enforcement for nearly 26 years.