The Arizona Attorney General’s Office found no criminal wrongdoing in Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos’ investigation into allegations that a deputy was sexually assaulted by her supervisor. However, criminal attorneys with the state office listed possible violations during the investigation of the department’s own policies.Chief Counsel Nicholas Klingerman with the state’s criminal division also noted that the internal affairs investigation into the case has yet to be completed and that Nanos planned to wait until the criminal trial ends to begin that investigation, according to an Aug. 29 letter to Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher. The findings were based on information the office had to-date, including “a review of the investigative materials developed in that case and provided to us by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.”The inquiry conducted by the attorney general was launched after Pima County Supervisors expressed concern over how Nanos — who is currently running for his second full term as sheriff — investigated the alleged sexual assault in 2022 of a female deputy by her then supervisor. Klingerman cited specific departmental policies and warned county officials that “based upon the content provided to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office” they “are concerned about the following possible violations:”That all members of the department are required to take appropriate police action to aid a fellow officer who is exposed to danger. “This policy may have been violated by command staff who were notified of the situation and/or responded to the scene, but provided limited or no assistance to department members dispatched to the scene.”All officers must act in an official capacity whether on or off-duty if they witness an incident that requires police action and time is essential to preventing a crime. “This policy may have been violated by a sworn police officer who was off duty, but on scene, and failed to immediately report the incident or observed conduct to emergency dispatch or on-duty department members.”Officers must submit supplemental reports to document their involvement in incidents involving law enforcement activities. “This policy may have been violated by command staff who were on scene or received direct reports from witnesses involved in this incident but failed to document their involvement with reports.”Unless otherwise approved by a supervisor, all property and evidence must be packaged and secured as evidence prior to the end of an officer’s shift. “This policy may have been violated by a detective failing to properly secure evidence with the Property and Evidence Unit prior to the end of the detective’s shift.”The attorney general’s office wrote that they “would welcome the opportunity to review the IA (internal affairs) investigation after it is completed by the Sheriff’s Department should this Board continue to have concerns.” “We understand that additional information will be developed during an IA (internal affairs) investigation which may provide explanations or justifications for these areas of concern.”Nanos responded to the findings in a Sept. 5 interview with Arizona Luminaria.“It’s exactly what we expected,” Nanos said. He said the inquest into his handling of the investigation was politically motivated. Nanos is a Democrat, the board of supervisors is made up of four Democrats and one Republican and the Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is a Democrat.“I’m not here to play politics, I’m here to do my job,” Nanos said, defending his department’s approach.In December of 2022, at a holiday party, Sgt. Ricardo Garcia allegedly sexually assaulted an unconscious female officer. Garcia was the woman’s supervisor and worked as a sergeant in the department’s school resources unit. Garcia was arrested in January 2023, fired from the department, and now faces both criminal and civil charges, according to a June 2023 article from the Arizona Daily Star.In June of 2023, the deputy also sued Pima County, two of her supervisors and Nanos, seeking $900,000 in damages.In September 2023, the Pima County Deputy Sheriff’s Association claimed in a statement that Nanos failed to launch an investigation into how the victim’s lieutenant, captain and chief handled the alleged sexual assault. The union representing sheriff department employees said that Nanos delayed initiating and then put the internal investigation on hold.Nanos called the charges “wild accusations that are furthest from the truth,” according to a Sept. 2023 article from the Daily Star. County supervisors decided, on Sept. 19, 2023, to ask the attorney general’s office to look into how Nanos conducted the internal investigation. Then 11 months later, on Aug. 29, 2024, state Chief Counsel Klingerman wrote to the supervisors explaining that they found no criminal wrongdoing based on the information to-date and outlined their concerns over potential departmental policy violations tied to the investigation of one of its own sergeants.Nanos said there are thousands of rules that guide the work of the sheriff’s department. “Sure there’s possible violations, there’s always possible violations, that’s why you have an internal investigation, but we’ll get to that when the criminal case is over,” he said.Nanos said that the internal investigation was delayed because he didn’t want it to get in the way of the criminal case. “We need to protect that case’s integrity, and allow that case to play its course,” he said.The incident and investigation came up in the Sept. 3 debate for the Pima County sheriff’s race. Republican Heather Lappin, who is a lieutenant in the corrections department and is vying to take Nanos’s position, said Nanos has faced multiple investigations over the years.An Aug. 2023 Arizona Luminaria report detailed some of these investigations, which included Nanos in his role as head of the department being named in lawsuits over abuse and deaths in the jail.In response, Nanos held up a paper saying that the attorney general’s office had cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing.The post Arizona AG: “No criminal wrongdoing” in Pima County Sheriff Nanos’ investigation of deputy’s alleged sexual assault appeared first on AZ Luminaria.First published by AZ Luminaria.