Officer on administrative leave after early morning fight

A Cape Girardeau police officer is on administrative leave while authorities investigate a fight that occurred early Tuesday morning, a police spokesman confirmed Thursday.

"We got a call of a fight early Tuesday morning at the Huddle House and determined that an off-duty officer may have been involved," said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Hickey said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of criminal and internal investigations.

An outside agency is conducting the criminal investigation, Hickey said.

He declined to name either the agency or the target of the investigation, citing standard policy on ongoing investigations.

"We're not going to hamper or try to influence that investigation," Hickey said. "No name (is) being released because it's an ongoing investigation, just like any other investigation."

Hickey said the call came in about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday.

He said the off-duty Cape Girardeau officer and two other parties were involved in the fight, including one who is not speaking to investigators.

No charges have been filed yet, Hickey said.

"The investigation is not complete at this time," he said. "...Chief (Wes Blair) said probably next week before it's concluded."

The officer also faces an internal investigation to determine whether any department policies were violated, Hickey said.

"We'll conduct our own professional standards investigation to find out if there was any policy violation," he said. "That will be in-house and internal."

The professional consequences for the officer depend on several variables, including the severity of any injuries resulting from the fight, Hickey said.

"It just depends on what comes out of the investigation," he said. "...There's a lot of factors that come to question."

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

511 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO