The Tulsa Police Department is encouraging any additional victims to come forward after one of its officers was charged with raping a woman while on duty.
Deangelo Reyes, an officer of five years, resigned from the department Thursday before Tulsa County prosecutors formally charged him Friday.
The 30-year-old was booked into jail just after noon Friday after turning himself in on one count of first-degree rape and was released on $50,000 bond.
Reyes
Reyes maintained his innocence in a statement released by his attorney but acknowledged that his actions violated departmental policies and were “selfish.”
Prosecutors allege that Reyes introduced himself as “Eric” while flirting with a woman near 51st Street and Yale Avenue in mid-April, got her name and number and later used her criminal history to pressure her into sex — all before the end of his shift.
People are also reading…
Investigators “became aware” of the interaction last week and interviewed the woman, who said she initially thought she was being stopped by police when Reyes pulled alongside her in his patrol car as she walked her dog in the late afternoon.
After Reyes offered some small talk and a joke about her dog working for the Police Department, he can be heard on his body camera recording telling the woman she is “sexy,” investigators reported.
“Is that unprofessional of me?” Reyes reportedly can be heard saying. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m just like, damn.”
Investigators said Reyes’ body camera was still active from his response to a previous call for service and recorded the first minute of his interaction with the woman before he turned it off.
Reyes reportedly asked the woman where she was staying so he could see her again and called her several hours later before showing up in her hotel’s parking lot in his patrol car.
He “ended up” in her hotel room in full uniform and asked her whether she was a prostitute, to which she replied no, a court affidavit states. Reyes reportedly told the woman he had looked up her criminal record.
“(The victim) said that when the officer told her how easy it would be to put a girl with her record back in jail, she knew what that meant,” the affidavit states.
The woman told investigators she was “terrified” that Reyes would “plant something to fabricate an arrest,” according to the affidavit.
The woman said she didn’t fight when Reyes had sexual intercourse with her and that he flushed the condom he used afterward.
“(The victim) said that the officer said something about being late for an end of shift meeting and left the hotel room,” the affidavit states.
Reyes was assigned to the third shift of the Riverside Patrol Division, which covers late afternoon to late night, and investigators found that Reyes did not respond to any calls for service during the final two hours of his shift and was instead marked as being busy writing police reports, none of which was turned in.
His computer system also showed that he looked up the victim’s information in a police database about the time of their initial encounter.
Investigators met with Reyes to execute a search warrant on his phone and place him on administrative leave, and Reyes lied about his interaction with the woman in an initial statement.
In a follow-up interview with his attorney present Wednesday, Reyes admitted that he lied, saying he hadn’t been “ready to be truthful” about “something on duty he shouldn’t be doing,” the affidavit states.
Reyes told investigators he approached the woman with the intention of initiating a “no-strings-attached” encounter, dishonestly told dispatch he was working on reports, and met the woman for sex he “perceived” as consensual, the affidavit states.
In an excerpt from Reyes’ resignation letter provided by attorney Andrea Brown, Reyes wrote that he hopes his actions will not reflect negatively on the department as a whole.
During a press conference to address the allegations, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin described Reyes’ abuse of power as a “black eye” not only to the TPD force but to every law enforcement officer everywhere.
“This woman, like many victims … didn’t believe their story was going to be believable,” Franklin said. “We believe she was being preyed upon (by Reyes). The officer went to that location seeking her out and called her.”
Franklin declined to clarify how the department learned of the interaction, citing an ongoing investigation, but said, “The victim did come forward, and the victim is very cooperative.”
District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said the facts suggest that the alleged crime was one of opportunity.
“Many people become victims due to their unfortunate circumstances,” Kunzweiler said. “They are preyed upon because of those unfortunate circumstances. Those victims are afraid no one will believe their story, and it takes courage for those people, whoever they are, to come forward and ask that justice be pursued on their behalf.”
In a separate press release, Kunzweiler commended the victim and reminded the public of victim support services available through the District Attorney’s Office’s Victim Witness Center.
A court date for Reyes has not yet been set.
Police investigators are asking anyone who had a questionable encounter with Reyes to contact TPD’s Special Victims Unit at 918-596-9168 or specialvictimsunit@cityoftulsa.org.
Randy Krehbiel contributed to this story.
