Kyle police officer Karl Cranek listens to testimony last week in the appeal of his firing from the department. Cranek was terminated for allegedly allowing a suspected pedophile drive away with a 14-year-old boy in his car. A ruling is not expected for weeks or months. (Photo by Sean Kimmons)
by SEAN KIMMONS
A Kyle police officer has protested his punishment after he was fired for letting an alleged pedophile drive away with a 14-year-old runaway during a traffic stop in February.
Officer Karl Cranek appealed his termination and a three-day arbitration hearing was held last week at Kyle City Hall, where a neutral hearing examiner listened to arguments from the officer and the Kyle Police Department. A judge is expected to hand down a final ruling this winter.
In March, the department handed Cranek an indefinite suspension for not properly investigating the scene when he stopped Kyle resident Dustin McFall, who had a reportedly missing 14-year-old boy in the car.
McFall, 33, and the boy were eventually detained by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office upon re-entering the U.S. from Mexico.
Unjust pink slip?
In the hearing, Cranek’s defense attorney Janice Joseph questioned why the department terminated her client when other officers who made mistakes received far lesser punishment.
Joseph, who works for Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), an advocacy group for police officers, said that multiple officers in the department had substandard performance but remained on the force.
One officer, she said, failed to write a police report on an attempted child abduction in front of Kyle Elementary School in January. The officer only received a two-day suspension.
Another Kyle officer neglected to read a suspect’s Miranda rights, a constitutional rights violation, and did not notarize his signature on a police document but was not suspended, she said.
A sergeant in the department was only reprimanded for offenses that included accidentally tasing a fellow officer, insufficient record keeping and for having a bad attitude, Joseph said.
Joseph argued that the department, headed by Police Chief Michael Blake, has a history of repeated behavioral issues, which she suggested might be due to improper training. The termination of her client should have better reflected the penalties of fellow officers, she argued.
On the other hand, Blake pointed out that Cranek’s misconduct was not on par with the other transgressions.
“We had a duty to protect that 14-year-old. We failed to do that,” Blake testified. “He had control of the situation but he just did not get it. The department is shamed publicly because of this action.”
On Feb. 21, Cranek was dispatched to the 100 block of Teasley Road in Kyle for a burglary/criminal mischief call. While nearing the home he observed McFall’s vehicle, which voluntarily pulled over, a department memorandum stated.
While on the scene, the dispatcher told Cranek that the day after McFall’s wife had thrown him out of their home, she caught him inside “having sex with some boy who is under eighteen,” the memo said.
Cranek asked the dispatcher, “Ok, what does she want us to do? To just make sure it was him in the house? He’s leaving anyway.” The dispatcher then advised Cranek that McFall and the boy were in a sexual relationship. Cranek responded, “Ok, well I can’t prove any of that,” and the call was disconnected, the memo stated.
As he spoke to McFall and the boy, Cranek failed to question the reported suspect and minor regarding the sexual abuse allegation. He also did not attempt to make contact with the boy’s parents at that time, according to the memo.
Blake testified that in the January attempted abduction case the officer handling the case ensured that the child was with her mother, notified school officials and relayed the incident to other officers during shift change. Unlike this case, no child was driven away by an accused child predator.
“It was a missed opportunity to directly protect a possible victim by asking simple police questions,” Blake testified.
Lapse of judgment
While on the phone with dispatch, Joseph argued that Cranek had trouble understanding the conversation because of radio traffic in the background. He supposedly did not hear dispatch tell him that the boy with McFall was in a sexual relationship with him.
She also maintained that Cranek, a police officer of five years, believed that it was “a civil matter” among feuding spouses going through a divorce, who often make outrageous claims against each other.
Officer Sam Valverde, who served as the back-up unit, testified that Cranek did not tell him exactly what dispatch relayed to him, or he would have done more police work.
And when McFall’s car drove away, Cranek told him, “Something doesn’t feel right here. I can’t put my finger on it,” Valverde testified.
When interviewed, Cranek admitted that he should have investigated the incident further, such as a background check on the boy, who was later reported as a runaway in Bastrop County. Cranek should have also corroborated stories with McFall and his wife, who lived less than a mile from where the traffic stop took place, Blake testified.
“He didn’t take the initiative to even run the boy in the system,” Blake said.
An arrest affidavit says that McFall met the teenage boy on Craigslist, where the victim told McFall that he was 15 years old. The boy disclosed to police that he performed oral sex on McFall two separate times at the suspect’s home.
McFall is currently in prison awaiting trial for two counts of sexual assault on a child, as well as an earlier assault causing bodily injury charge. His trial is slated for Sept. 27 at the 22nd District Court in San Marcos, according to court records.
Excess baggage
If Cranek were to win his appeal, which would force the department to rehire him, Blake testified that he couldn’t do anything with him since he’s not trusted to perform patrolling duties.
“We are an understaffed department,” he said. “Every officer has to be able to patrol.”
The department is authorized to have 32 personnel but currently has 25 as it tries to keep up with a rapidly expanding city. It also lacks specialized police fields that afford desk jobs found at larger departments.
“I don’t know what we’ll be able to do with him,” Blake said. “We don’t have the luxury to warehouse personnel.”
Closing arguments for the hearing were pushed to Sept. 13, which will be conducted via teleconference. The hearing examiner, Chuck Miller, a former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge, is required to make his final decision within 60 days of that date.
