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Sheriff’s department sex scandal lands three under investigation

July 30, 2012

John Pozdolski

CORRECTION: While senior deputy Todd Steeb and Pozdolski’s wife are under investigation, Sheriff Ian Parkinson placed only John Pozdolski on paid administrative leave.

By KAREN VELIE

An alleged affair between a senior San Luis Obispo County Sheriff deputy and a lower ranking officer’s wife has prompted department officials to place one employee on paid administrative leave and three under investigation.

Following allegations that senior deputy Todd Steeb was having an affair with a lower-ranking deputy’s wife, the lower-ranking deputy allegedly assaulted his wife, a sheriff’s department dispatcher. After learning of the assault, sheriff officials sent Commander Aaron Nix to arrest John Pozdolski for domestic violence at his home in Los Osos on July 16.

Department officials then placed John Pozdolski on paid administrative leave while internal affairs looks into the allegations.

Shortly before Ian Parkinson was elected sheriff, the department was investigating another sex scandal involving several department employees. In the summer of 2010, a male sheriff deputy and a female jail correctional officer were accused of sexual misconduct on the job and of filing a false report against the wife of a former officer.

Department insiders said the false charges were filed to retaliate against a former lover. However, the results of the department’s internal affairs investigation were never disclosed to the public with officials claiming it was a personnel issue.

In response to a request by CalCoastNews for information on how long the employees have been on paid administrative leave and who was performing the investigation, sheriff department public information officer Tony Cipolla said he would answer questions in an email. However, he instead sent a press release out to county media announcing Pozdolski’s arrest.


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Hey …Mr. Beentheredonethat…. where did u get the idea that he smacked her around..as you put it? perhaps you have done that but since you were NOT THERE during this situation please refrain from idle speculation. If ” smacking around” had occured the SINGLE charge would have been a felony charge, not the misdem. it was…


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And they start coming out of the woodwork…


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Where did I get the idea? Hmm let me see. The article said he was arrested for assault. I don’t think they arrest you for verbal assault so I have to assume he put his hands on her in some way.


As for myself. Never have laid a hand on a woman. I personnelly would love nothing better than to kick the shit out of anyone that does!!!! Again as in my post earlier to you WHERE does it say it was a misdermeaner in the article? Do you have inside information? Are you possiblly a cop who knows the charges and are here defending a buddy? HMMM


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I was at the civic center in Downtown LA two weeks ago. Fairly big LAPD and LASD presence. The officers/deputies looked like normal, serious, no-nonsense people. Not one had the “smug-thug”/paramilitary look that is so common amongst law enforcement in SLO County. No shaved heads, no bloated faces (from God knows what), no mirrored $450.00 sunglasses, etc. Are standards for the LAPD Metropolitan Division THAT much higher than law enforcement agencies here locally? Can we adopt those standards here?


Take another gander at Pozdolski’s mugshot. He literally LOOKS like a jerk/thug! If I got a look from a law enforcement officer like the one in the photo (and they’re not common around here), it would most certainly put me on the defensive. Tell me they have a tough job (especially compared to the Metro LAPD) and we can all share a laugh.


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It’s called “The Barnie Fife Syndrome.” Weaklings try to look and talk big to compensate for their little eggs.


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I find it odd that officer Steeb was put on administrative leave on the 16th of July when he was in uniform at the Mid State Fair on Friday July 27th.

Cippola……you need to check out the complaints on officer Steeb at the sheriff’s dept. His character should have been in question a very long time ago! There may be a few people that won’t mind speaking up now that this has surfaced! Once a liar, always a liar. Especially when you get away with it, or it is covered up.

Get rid of them all!


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Let’s keep in mind the Deputy Pozdolski was arrested for ALLEGED MISDEMEANOR Domestic Violence. If there was any hitting or beating it would not be a misdemeanor. Let’s also keep in mind that not too long ago, Pozdolski was commended for saving people in a raging fire in Los Osos.

Steeb was not put on leave even tho he violated dept. policies. Steeb is married and messing around with a married woman in an ALLEGED affair.


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Don’t get your underdrawers in a knot. I think it is assumed they have not been convicted unless it clearly states so in the article.


HOWEVER, it does not seem to be Parkinson’s policy to send someone out on admin leave for small transgressions.


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Here is my response to several people who have made comments about this situation.

1. YOU WERE NOT THERE.

2. Spousal abuse? NO ONE has mentioned spousal abuse. Quit mixing up the information and using rhetoric to stir things up.

3.CHILD ABUSE is letting pregnant DRUG USERS take her newborn home. CHILD ABUSE is trying to change the behavior AFTER the infant is damaged beyond repair.

4. Those children frequenly become the people on the streets that YOU don’t want to deal with, and expect the cops to do something about.

5…As far as commenting on the officers temper on the street vs. home..Have any of YOU ever dealt day after day with people who are mentally ill, homeless, drunk, high, young, old, arrogant, stupid, telling someone their loved one has killed him/er self, told a parent their kid was killed by a drunk driver, scraped up body parts of accident victims? Even those of you on this forum who are committed to disliking the police can understand what I am trying to say.

6. Someone made the comment that cops are held to a higher standard. BY whom? You?

7.. It seems like the majority of comments on this forum are aimed at the cops being the bad guys, which would imply that NONE of you have ever done anything wrong.

Those of you who are without guilt, please stand up.


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What part of “the lower-ranking deputy allegedly assaulted his wife, a sheriff’s department dispatcher. After learning of the assault, sheriff officials sent Commander Aaron Nix to arrest John Pozdolski for domestic violence at his home in Los Osos on July 16” don’t you understand?


Since you appear to be claiming you know more than anyone else here, why don’t you just post the arrest report and court proceedings? Then we can see what is what, okay?


If not, I’m going by the article, not some fly-by apologista for slutty Sheriff Department personnel.


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MaryMalone… arrest reports are private during an ongoing investigation.. and even someone with your intelligence should know that there are not any ” court proceedings” because it hasn’t ( drum roll…) GONE to court.

I seem to remember a time, Mary, when your report going public would have caused some discomfort on your part.

SEE how easy it is to sling mud???


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Gosh, REALLY? That was my point. Don’t snipe at posters for making judgments based on the available information by criticizing them for not seeing the arrest report.


Also, trying to diminish Pozdolski’s violent behavior by saying we all have made mistakes is an invalid argument.


“We all” have not had the extensive training in dealing with potential instances of domestic violence, we all are not LEOs, and we all don’t carry lethal force and power as part of our job as an LEO.


Pozdolski does. That is why this is such a serious situation.


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Violent behavior?

Please review spankys comment 7/30/2012 at 8;02 pm.

I never realized we have so many bigots in this town. To paint all leos the same color is like saying all mexicans are lazy or all blacks are poor.

YOU are a bigot, a hate-mongerer, and you sicken me.


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It’s hard to rectify two images … The one in this article vs the Pozdolski who was awarded for rescuing someone from a burning building last year.


As for the other Deputy mentioned in this article and the Dispatcher, what the heck were they thinking?


For them it’s bad juju indeed !!!!


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ps..the guy that was saved is no angel… i can tell you that..


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I thought Tony was hired to help communicate with the press?. There should have been a press release the day of the arrest, especially with the other recent issues with other local PDs.


Dump the position and put the money towards fighting crime.


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Sheriffs Dept. Expensive Puppet! Crazy.


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Tony’s job is actually to spin the Sheriffs Dept. news to the benefit of the SD, including covering up unsavory details when necessary.


I agree about dumping the position. Let Parkinson pay for it–that position certainly is not benefiting us taxpayers.


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When you think about it, it really is a horrid thing for the sheriff to use taxpayer money to pay a spinmeister. Stop wasting our money, Parkinson.


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WHY should there have been a press release? HOW is this ANY of your business? Do we get press releases on ALL the people everyday that are arrested??? NO we do not.


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There should be a press release–and it should have been done before now, not because the department was caught by CCN–because it is in the public interest to be informed when the LE personnel we pay to protect us, including providing the firearms they are allowed to carry and use, are breaking department rules.


In this case, it has to do with slutty-slutty-slutty acts of sheriffs AND the cuckolded husband of the slutty wife being arrested for assaulting his slutty wife.


We have a right to know who these well-paid idiots are because, if they will break one personnel policy, there is always the potential they will break other policies, as well.


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You sure talk a lot of crap for some one with no facts except an inaccurate report that has been corrected the same day it broke.


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Spanky you continue to say these commentators do not have the facts, well then please, grace us with your facts! All you are doing is repeating the word NO and telling us we weren’t there. If you were there then please enlighten us as you seem to think you know more than the press release….well if that’s so, then you are also saying the the press release is withholding information? Great, another point for us proving that you and your *friends* are slimey and bent on twisting the truth.


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The department was the one that issued the press release after CCN was asking questions about the arrest. It makes it look like they were trying to keep the public from finding out about the arrest.


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Parkinson is going to ruin Tony’s reputation…


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Maybe then Tony will get a $250k payout of taxpayers money for Parkinson ruining his reputation…(tongue-in-cheek).


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HA! You’re probably right!


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No, Tony will ruin his own reputation. You take the money, you dance the dance.


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Two Officers (one high ranking) plus a dispatcher all on PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE? This bullshit is starting to get old and expensive. Non of them should be on paid leave unless they are found innocent, otherwise they should have to pay it back but that sure ain’t gonna happen, not as long as we allow our servants to make their own rules. Why do we have to pay for this CRAP? I’ll tell you why, because we allow it, that’s why and why do we allow it??


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All of these processes–such as paid administrative leave–are part of the SD’s policies. Those policies would have to be changed to stop employees being sent out on administrative leave. I don’t think that is something taxpayers can do. However, it is something taxpayers can pressure the SD to do.


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Because CIndy, YOU are not willing to put YOUR ass on the line every day . THey ARE.


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We all know what they were doing with their asses and it wasn’t putting them on the line for us. Not even close. You really have your nerve.


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That is an invalid argument. Cindy is not an LEO, and you don’t know if Cindy is, in fact, willing, or not, to put her “ass” on the line every day.


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how pathetic. The people we pay to protect us can’t even conduct themselves appropriately.


Clean house!


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Just wondering if Tony Cippola knew what he was getting into. Far cry from “REPORTING” the news.


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I don’t know how far it is from reporting the news. It is not unusual for news organizations to spin the news to cover for government officials, police departments, etc. We see it all the time at the Tribune.


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