Former Lorain Police Lieutenant indicted, subordinate patrolman fired after sexual relationship uncovered

LORAIN — A former Lorain police lieutenant has been indicted on several charges including tampering with evidence and unauthorized use of property following an internal investigation. Lt. Tabitha Angello, 45, was charged after an investigation found she allegedly had a sexual relationship with a subordinate officer and a convicted drug trafficker, both on and off-duty, according to a department news release. Angello resigned in lieu of termination on Nov. 10. She was a 16-year veteran of the department. The officer she was involved with, Carlos Trujillo, 28, a four-year veteran of the department, was fired Nov. 14 after the investigation found he was reportedly guilty of multiple administrative violations including three counts of gross misconduct. The case was presented to a county grand jury Nov. 16 and she was indicted on two counts of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; two counts of tampering with records, a third-degree felony; obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor; and three counts of unauthorized use of the law enforcement automated database system, a fifth-degree felony. Inciting incident A Sept. 21 incident involving Angello's longtime boyfriend Sgt. Ken Zapolski, 51, sparked the investigation. After a retirement party at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3 hall on Broadway, Angello had reportedly asked Officer Jesse Perkins to walk her to her car. While the pair were talking in the parking lot behind the hall, Zapolski allegedly ran up and sucker punched Perkins, then kicked and stomped him while he was on the ground. He reportedly kept saying "really Jesse, really" and called Angello a "whore." Zapolski appeared intoxicated at the time, and left before other officers arrived on scene, according to police reports. Surveillance footage from Lorain County Community Action Agency captured the incident and showed Zapolski allegedly pushing Angello out of the way before striking Perkins, then when she tries to stop him, he pushes her backward, according to the original incident report. Angello reportedly was uncooperative with the incident investigation and Zapolski was suspected of stalking Angello leading up to his assault on Perkins. According to the internal investigation, Zapolski called Angello and Perkins several times, and witnesses said they saw Angello and Zapolski arguing on speaker phone. Lt. Tim Thompson, the officer in charge that evening, noted in his report that it was not the first time an intoxicated Zapolski allegedly had been "abusive" toward Angello, and that he was aware of several other incidents where the sergeant had been abusive or out of control and police were called. Those incidents occurred years earlier and no reports were taken, according to the investigation summary. On Sept. 22, Chief Jim McCann told Capt. Roger Watkins to go to Angello's house to provide her notice of her administrative leave while the incident was under investigation. Angello was ordered to surrender her badge, department-issued firearm and department-issued cellphone. Prior to handing over her cellphone, body-worn camera footage shows her tampering with it while Watkins waits for her to hand it over. When officers began reviewing Angello's cellphone there were obvious gaps in the messages and content, according to the investigative report. Those missing messages had been dumped into Keepsafe, an encryption application. During her interview, Angello admitted to deleting items off her phone before giving it to Watkins, but said she'd deleted naked pictures because she'd be embarrassed when those were downloaded off her phone. Relationship with a convicted felon While officers examined Angello's phone, they found messages between her and a known drug trafficker in the city. The dealer had reportedly sent her a selfie, as well as a picture of his penis and there were extensive texts between the two of them. The man's name is redacted from the report, citing an ongoing investigation. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office began a criminal investigation into Angello's actions with the known dealer, separate from the department's internal investigation. Those texts included Angello notifying him that another dealer had been arrested, including sending him a photo of the man in handcuffs on Sept. 7. On Sept. 6, an officer with the Patrol Impact Team pulled over the dealer for excessive window tint in South Lorain. During the traffic stop, the man reportedly contacted Angello, who then called the officer and asked to cut the man a break. The man was given a written warning and texts between the two included in the report show Angello telling him it was "all taken care of" and that she was told "to advise my sneaky link to get his window tint fixed." In her interview with investigators, Angello disputed that she'd asked the officer to give the man a break, and she said the text to him afterward was a joke and that she wanted him to believe she "saved him" from getting a ticket. Many of the explicit texts between the two were while Angello was on duty. During the course of their relationship, Angello reportedly used the Law Enforcement Automated Data System, or LEADS, to run his license plate on several occasions in August, when she was not actively investigating him for anything, according to the report. She also admitted to having sexual activity with the man while on duty on multiple occasions. She vehemently denied being involved in his drug trafficking, according to the report, and denied doing anything criminal or tipping anyone off to police activity. Relationship with Trujillo While carrying on the relationship with the known drug trafficker, Angello also reportedly had a relationship with Officer Carlos Trujillo, her direct subordinate. While the pair were working the night shift, there were at least two instances they met up to have oral sex — one near the Cleveland Clinic on Oakpoint Road and another at the Armory in South Lorain on Aug. 31. The rendezvous at the Cleveland Clinic was about a week prior, according to the report. Explicit text messages and photos were exchanged between the two, both on and off-duty. Angello was reportedly making staffing decisions to try to isolate Trujillo so they could continue meeting on-duty. Around the same time, Angello also tried to start another relationship with a second subordinate officer, according to the report. That officer, whose name was redacted citing an ongoing internal investigation, is a member of the Patrol Impact Team and does report to her on occasion. The pair had flirted back and forth, including texting on duty. Those texts included Angello sending him a photo of a woman who had jumped from the 11th floor of Lakeview Plaza as a conversation piece. He reportedly told investigators he was trying to handle the matter delicately because Zapolski — who Angello lived with at the time — was the SWAT team commander and he is on the SWAT team. He told investigators he was not interested in a relationship with Angello but she continued to text him and during the FOP's retirement dinner on Sept. 21 put her hand under his shirt and sat on his lap. He said he "wanted nothing to do with what was occurring" and left. Shortly after he got home, he heard about the incident involving Zapolski, Perkins and Angello. Angello disputed his characterization of the relationship in her interview with investigators. Fallout Angello was booked into the Lorain County Jail on Monday and released the same day. Zapolski also was found guilty of multiple administrative violations, including one county of gross misconduct. He retired from the department Nov. 3, prior to his predisciplinary hearing. He was charged with assault, domestic violence and menacing by stalking as a result of the Sept. 21 incident. His case is still moving through Lorain Municipal Court. His next pretrial is set for Dec. 5 before Judge Patrick Carroll. McCann said the investigation was taken seriously, and its outcome is a signal that the department will not tolerate these behaviors. "A clear message has been sent to the officers of the Lorain Police Department and to members of the public that such repugnant conduct will not be tolerated at the Lorain Police Department," McCann said a news release. "I have taken proactive measures to rid the agency of any disgraceful conduct committed by my officers … The Lorain Police Department will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach for violations stemming for a lack of integrity. We will continue to be transparent and to work hard to maintain and sustain the support of those who trust us to serve and to do the right thing." Lt. Jake Morris, who was one of the investigators, lauded the chief's transparency. "Our public can blame Chief McCann for this happening … or they can blame him for finding this and eliminating it," he said. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3 union liaison Christian Franco declined to comment. Angello and Trujillo did not return requests for comment. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.