Columbus police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua removed from position, at least temporarily
The public face of the Columbus Division of Police has been removed from the position, at least temporarily, but the reasons remain unclear.
Sgt. James Fuqua had been serving as the department’s public information officer since October 2019, representing the division at media news conferences and at certain community events. But on June 10, he abruptly disappeared from that role.
The Dispatch requested information regarding Fuqua’s apparent removal, but was told that no paperwork exists regarding a reassignment. Fuqua’s personnel file shows an active internal investigation, which is ongoing, but it is not clear what is being investigated.
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In a statement, the police division said Fuqua "has been reassigned from the Public Information Office pending the outcome of an administrative investigation."
Fuqua did not comment when reached by The Dispatch.
Two incidents under investigation, records show
Paperwork provided to The Dispatch through an Ohio Public Records Act request, includes information about two separate incidents that the Division of Police is investigating.
One incident involved a June 4 car crash Fuqua was involved in with his division-issued city vehicle while off-duty.
According to the records provided, Fuqua was driving behind a woman who stopped to merge. Fuqua rear-ended the woman at low speed, resulting in damage to a headlight on his vehicle but no damage to the woman's vehicle. There were no injuries in the crash.
Division policy requires a sergeant involved in a crash while in a city vehicle to have that crash documented by a lieutenant. Fuqua documented the crash himself, including taking photographs, and had another officer file the crash report, according to the documents.
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Other documents show that Fuqua and his girlfriend, who is also a Columbus police officer, called Bexley police in May after a man approached the female officer in the driveway of a home there.
Bexley police reported that Fuqua, who was off-duty but still in uniform, had arrived at the home in a separate vehicle immediately after his girlfriend. Fuqua saw the man approach the female officer, who was in civilian clothes, in her car. Fuqua asked the man to leave, but the man appeared “fixated” on Fuqua’s girlfriend, “never looking at Fuqua,” according to the police report.
The man began walking away. Fuqua followed him in a vehicle and waited with the man until Bexley and Capital University police arrived at the scene. The man was told by the responding officers that he was not permitted to be at the Bexley address or on Capital University grounds in the future or he could face trespassing charges.
Fuqua has not been suspended or relieved of duty. The highest discipline he could receive of the two issues under investigation would be a written reprimand.
Fuqua is currently working patrol duty.
One prior complaint, but not first Columbus police PIO to be removed
According to his personnel file, Fuqua had a complaint from an incident in December 2010, but has no other disciplinary history in his 17-year career. The documentation related to the December 2010 incident is no longer available, in accordance with the division's records retention policy.
Fuqua is not the first spokesperson for the Division to come under fire.
In 2018, the Division's public information officer, Sgt. Dean Worthington, was arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, five years of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
bbruner@dispatch.com
@bethany_bruner
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police remove spokesman, at least temporarily
