Former DPD commander and officer facing felonies in assault case

(WJBK) - Chief James Craig defending his department after two of his own -- former commander Timothy Leach and officer Frederick Person were charged in a St Patrick's day Corktown bar assault and lying to cover it up.

“Bad decisions we hire from human race police officer not perfect doesn't mean we don't set professional standard,” Chief James Craig said.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy handing down the charges Wednesday. Leach who has since been demoted to lieutenant was working at Detroit’s Ottavia as a private security guard, without DPD approval and without a license.

Worthy says when he went to kick out 42-year old Michael Karpovich he pushed him so hard he fell to the floor causing severe head injuries. Karpovich was rushed to the hospital, but we’re told when officers arrived Leach never reported that use of force. 

“If there is an allegation of a cover-up we take it very seriously but doesn't reflect organization,” Craig said.

Officer Person who was also working at the restaurant as security during the alleged assault also never reported it, and then lied to investigators about what happened. Like Leach, Person never had DPD approval to work a second job. 

“We do expect our ranking members to set an example, clearly that example not set, there was no notification which is clear that one they were working on off duty capacity and secondly no report of use of force incident, mandated by department policy,” Craig said.

We’re told Karpovich has since been released from the hospital, but with the severity of his brain injuries has a long road to recovery.

In the meantime, Chief Craig says as this case plays out in court, his administration will continue its investigation. 

Although Prosecutor Worthy calls the charges against two more DPD officers Sad goes on to say it does not represent the rest of the department. The Chief agreed.

This absolutely doesn't reflect hard working men and women in department upper echelon of the department.”