Chief’s charges against Paso Robles officer dismissed

June 28, 2012

Charges levied against a Paso Robles police officer for allegedly accessing DMV records by former chief of police Lisa Solomon-Chitty were dismissed earlier this month.

Prosecutors asked San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge John Trice to dismiss the four misdemeanor counts lodged against Officer Jeff Bromby after determining they were unlikely to get a conviction. Prosecutors blamed the judges instructions to the jury for the cases failure.

Prior to Solomon leaving the force under allegations she sexually assaulted her men and implemented illegal policies, officers accused her of regularly using threats of criminal charges against employees who crossed her.

Most of the threats of criminal charges against her employees were either never filed or resulted in the district attorney’s office refusing to prosecute. Nevertheless, several employees have been criminally charged.

Officers say Solomon and a few top-level commanders regularly searched videos of employees they  were looking to get rid of in an attempt to claim excessive force, and check the employee’s computers for unlawful access of driving records, a misdemeanor.

In 2010, Solomon was allegedly looking to get rid of Bromby. After the district attorney’s office rebuffed attempts to have the officer charged with theft for helping his girlfriend remove items from an elderly relative’s home, she was successful in having him charged with unauthorized access to driving records.

After remaining on paid administrative leave for several months, Bromby resigned from the force.