AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Police Chief Brian Manley has fired an officer who he said struck a relationship with a stalking victim in distress.
According to a 14-page memo, Officer Jordan Wagstaff began the courtship with the woman while she was vulnerable and violated department policies that prevent officers from establishing "an external social relationship with a known victim...while such as is being investigated by this department or prosecuted as a result of the investigation."
Manley said Wagstaff, who had been on the force about two years, violated multiple other department policies.
At one point, according to the memo, he gave the 27-year-old woman a gun, even though he wasn't sure if she knew how to use it. He allegedly got access to the suspect's criminal history improperly and he made out with the woman in his patrol car outside her gym while he was on duty.
The memo said Wagstaff began the relationship with the woman in December after responding to her gym to a stalking report.
The document said after getting information for the report, Wagstaff began chatting with the woman and the two began Facebook friends.
During the investigation, Wagstaff told investigators that he thought such relationships were "discouraged" but he didn't know they were a policy violation.
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