A San Diego police officer lied about multiple “sexual conversations” with a female suspect who he was later found with locked in the back of his squad car, according to a newly-released internal report.
Anthony Hair resigned a month after the August 2023 incident with the unidentified woman after investigators found he’d failed to follow proper procedures and falsified police reports, a violation of law.
Now, the full investigation has been released, and details the allegations against Hair, including that he made “provable false statements” about the “sexual or personal conversations” he had with the woman.
According to the report, Hair stated during a voluntary interview on August 16, 2023 that “there was no sexual or personal conversations between him and [redacted] as they interacted throughout the contact.”
The report highlighted that there were, in fact, “at least three separate occasions” in which the two had interacted or spoken about “something in a personal or sexual manner”.
Body-cam footage recorded a conversation between Hair and the woman as he drove her to the Las Colinas Detention Center in his squad car on August 15. 2023.
In the recording, she asked Officer Hair if he was married or single, telling him: “You’re not too bad. What’s it going to hurt me if I work the system, you know what I mean?”
“I’m down to f*** right now,” she continued.
“Don’t say that right now,” Mr Hair responded. “Don’t say that right now because everything is being recorded right now.”
Hair had been “untruthful”, the report concluded. “When comparing several statements put forth by Officer Hair to the evidence and circumstances, he made provable false statements,” it stated.
“A single incident could be attributed to a lapse in memory or confusion. However, Officer Hair’s verifiable false statements emerged as he described multiple facets of the events.”
Hair’s actions also demonstrated a “significant lack of understanding and competency: in regard to his directives and the role of a police officer in general, the report stated.
“Officer Hair’s inability to perform and abide by the Department’s procedures, combined with the circumstances of a solo male officer locking himself in the rear cabin of a patrol vehicle outside of Las Colinas, required PSU to investigate a possible sexual assault by an officer,” the report stated.
“If Officer Hair had followed the multiple Department procedures he neglected to obey, the criminal allegation and investigation may have been moot.”
Hair told investigators that he had stopped the car and gotten into the back with the woman after believing her to be having a medical issue. He had “accidentally” shut the door behind him, locking them in the holding cage together.
Hair also claimed he knocked his body camera off its clip when he exited the vehicle. Roughly 20 minutes after the car stopped, Hair called an officer asking if he had a master key for the vehicle, sounding “panicky”.
The woman later told investigators Hair asked for her phone number and to meet up when she was released from jail, though she also denied that there was any sexual contact between them.
The San Diego District Attorney’s Office told NBC 7 they cannot comment on whether charges will be brought against Hair.
The Independent has contacted the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and the San Diego Police Department for comment.
