WFPD Chief, suspended officer testify in arbitration

Yahoo

04-06-2025

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The City of Wichita Falls and a former officer with the Wichita Falls Police Department now await the decision of an independent examiner after an arbitration hearing concluded on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Ralph Ryan Piper, 50, of Wichita Falls, was placed on indefinite suspension in September 2023 by the Wichita Falls Police Department for violating the department's code of conduct.
Piper's suspension stems from May 2023, when he allegedly accessed case files after being ordered not to be involved with any ongoing investigations, then allegedly lied about accessing those case files when asked by his superiors. Piper has denied ever accessing the case since the allegations were brought against him.
PREVIOUS STORY: Arbitration underway for suspended WFPD officer
Arbitration began on Monday, June 2, 2025, and continued on Tuesday, June 3, beginning at around 9 a.m., in the conference room of the City Manager's office, located on the third floor of the First Wichita Building, known as Big Blue, in downtown Wichita Falls.
Diego Peña, an independent third-party mediator based in Arlington, oversaw the hearing. Julia Vasquez, Deputy City Attorney for Wichita Falls, is representing the city and the WFPD during arbitration. Lance Wyatt is representing Piper.
Vasquez, on behalf of the City of Wichita Falls, called WFPD Lt. Sam Coltrain as a witness. Lt. Coltrain testified that he conducted an in-depth audit of Piper's activity on WFPD's Record Management System.
According to Lt. Coltrain's audit, which was admitted into evidence, between 8:55 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. on May 5, 2023, Piper was searching for cases he was assigned to work on disposing of old evidence for, dated back to 2005.
Lt. Coltrain testified that at 9:04 a.m. on May 5, 2023, a search from Piper's RMS account for 'Piper' was logged. Then, in rapid succession, Piper's RMS account also searched for 'Michael Piper,' 'Ralph Michael Piper', and the address for Piper's family roofing business, located on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
Lt. Coltrain testified that he's not aware of any time the RMS audit log has ever created random entries on its own, and that the only way another officer could have searched for a case using Piper's account was if Piper allowed that person to sit at his computer. He testified that Piper denied ever searching for the case.
During cross-examination, Wyatt asked Lt. Coltrain if another employee could have accessed Piper's computer if he had walked away from his desk to take a phone call and left his machine open and logged in. Lt. Coltrain testified that it would be possible.
Lt. Coltrain also testified that after the searches were done on Piper's computer for keywords related to his father's case, there was no more RMS activity until 9:44 a.m., seeming to support the defense theory that Piper was away from his desk for an extended amount of time.
READ MORE: WFPD officer acquitted of theft charges
On redirect examination from Vasquez, Lt. Coltrain testified that the only explanation he can see regarding the case files searched for on Piper's RMS account is that Piper himself searched for the case files.
'I don't know why any other officer would jeopardize their career to set someone up,' Lt. Coltrain testified.
The next witness called on behalf of the City of Wichita Falls was the Chief of Police for the Wichita Falls Police Department, Manuel Borrego. He testified that he's served as the Chief since 2012, but has been with the department for over 40 years.
Chief Borrego testified that when Piper was reinstated, he instructed Piper not to be involved with any active investigations because he'd been added to the Brady List by the Wichita County District Attorney's Office and the city prosecutor.
Chief Borrego testified that after Piper was acquitted of his criminal charges, he had to bring him back to work, but it was difficult to find a place for him due to his Brady complications. He testified that if Piper hadn't been subject to a Brady notice, his return to the WFPD would've been handled very differently.
'I've got to bring justice to these victims, and I can't jeopardize that with the D.A. not taking a case because Piper was involved,' Chief Borrego testified. 'I told him specifically he'd never see the inside of a police vehicle and he'd never ride a police motorcycle again because he'd been Brady'ed.'
Chief Borrego testified that there were no open administrative investigations regarding Piper before his first suspension, and he wasn't aware of any other issues with Piper prior to the situation for which he's currently suspended.
Chief Borrego testified that after he was notified that Piper was accused of accessing a case involving his family business and that he'd lied to superiors about the case, he asked Lt. Joseph Puddu, who testified yesterday, to conduct an internal investigation.
According to Chief Borrego's testimony, Piper checking the RMS case file for the burglary at his family's roofing business isn't directly what led to his indefinite suspension.
'Officer Piper must've felt that based on his actions, he was going to be terminated, so he lied about it,' Chief Borrego testified. 'What got him fired wasn't just that he disobeyed a direct order, but that he lied about it.'
Chief Borrego testified that following Lt. Puddu's investigation, a probable cause hearing was held in September 2023, in which Piper didn't offer any alternative explanations as to why his credentials were used to access the case file, adding that Piper continued to deny that he ever accessed the case in the RMS.
'He had multiple opportunities to be truthful about what happened in this,' Chief Borrego testified. 'He accessed it, he refused to be truthful about it, so I made a determination that I couldn't use him anywhere else. I'd lost faith in him as far as if I could trust him.'
According to Chief Borrego's testimony, had Piper just admitted to searching for the case files, he might not have been suspended at all, and while he might have been subject to discipline, he would still have a job today.
Chief Borrego testified that if the independent arbitrator rules in Piper's favor, and he's reinstated to the WFPD, he doesn't know what he'd do with Piper, but suggested that he might transfer him to a different department entirely, if he's legally able to.
'We brought him back, we put him in a position, and he chose not to follow the rules that were imposed on him, and because of that, I don't know what else I can do with him,' Chief Borrego testified.
Following Chief Borrego's testimony, Vasquez rested the city's case.
Wyatt, on Piper's behalf, called a single witness for its case against the City of Wichita Falls: Ralph Ryan Piper himself.
Piper testified that he began working with the WFPD in 2002 and continued to do so until 2016, when he was indefinitely suspended due to criminal charges that were pending against him.
Piper testified that when he was reinstated following his acquittal in 2023, he was informed that the Wichita County District Attorney's Office would drop any case in which Piper had to be certified as a witness due to his Brady notice, so he began disposing of unnecessary evidence on old cases, including old photos and videos on closed cases.
Piper testified that on the day in question, May 5, 2023, he received a phone call at 9:02 a.m., then left his desk to handle it, because it involved his family business, and that he was away from his desk for several minutes.
Piper maintained that he never accessed the case involving the burglary of his father's business, and that he tried to show Lt. Puddu his phone records during the internal investigation, but that Lt. Puddu seemed uninterested in what evidence Piper might have.
'I have not been untruthful at any point,' Piper testified.
According to Piper's testimony, he believed that because of the Wichita County District Attorney, it was clear that other local officials felt that he was an issue and that they didn't want him back with the police department, so he figured he was already gone.
Piper then testified that he believed that Sgt. Spragins, who testified on Monday, June 2, and conducted the initial audit into Piper's RMS activity, had something to do with the case files being accessed from his computer.
'It sounds horrible and it sounds ridiculous, but I have no better explanation,' Piper testified. 'In my heart of hearts, do I know that Spragins had something to do with this? I do.'
Piper then testified that he believed Sgt. Spragins despised him and that he had a close relationship with the Wichita County District Attorney. He referred to the District Attorney as the 'king of the castle,' adding that he knew that he wanted Piper gone.
'I exercised my Fifth Amendment Right and I got put on a Brady List because the D.A. didn't get his way,' Piper testified.
Piper then became visibly emotional, with tears in his eyes and his voice breaking as he told Wyatt, 'All I want to do is be a cop.'
After the defense rested its case and Sgt. Spragins and Chief Borrego were called as rebuttal witnesses for the City of Wichita Falls, the arbitration hearing concluded at around 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
After an off-the-record discussion between both attorneys regarding the post-briefing schedule, Peña went back on the record, notifying both parties that the record of the arbitration hearing will take about two weeks for the reporter to prepare.
Peña told both parties that after the record is complete, both advocates will receive the record and will be able to write a brief, which will be submitted to the arbitrator. A post-hearing brief will be submitted by both sides.
According to Peña, he will return a decision roughly 30 days after receiving both post-hearing briefs from Vasquez and Wyatt. He provided a rough estimate of late August or early September, when he expects to return his decision, but informed both parties that it may come before then.
Before all parties left the conference room, Peña told them that his decision would be based on the arbitration hearing and the evidence provided during it.
October 2016 — Piper is initially charged with theft over $20,000 but under $100,000 for allegations stemming from June 2015, and was suspended from the WFPD without pay
May 2017 — Special prosecutor appointed for Piper's case
July 2019 — Piper was indicted for theft and money laundering by a Wichita County grand jury, with the money laundering charge being dismissed at a later date
January 2023 — Piper stands trial for theft and is later acquitted after the jury found him not guilty
February 2023 — Piper is reinstated with the Wichita Falls Police Department
May 2023 — Piper was accused of accessing a case after he was ordered not to get involved with any ongoing investigations
June 2023 — WFPD begins internal investigation into Piper
September 2023 — Internal investigation concludes with a due process hearing, after which, Piper is again placed on indefinite suspension
June 2025 — Arbitration begins with a third-party mediatorCopyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.