Sigman and Tomaszewski are each being held in the Texas County Jail on $500,000 bond.
The couple's alleged crime spree is detailed in Tomaszewski's probable cause statement:
On July 12, 2017, she was promoted to jail administrator without any prior experience. On May 24, 2018, Tomaszewski received her POST license after graduating from the Sheriff's Academy in West Plains, Missouri.
Immediately upon graduation, Tomaszewski started working as the chief deputy for the Texas County Sheriff's Office. Tomaszewski is currently employed as the chief deputy for the Texas County Sheriff's Office. She has also been involved in a romantic relationship with Sigman since very near the time she was initially hired at the Sheriff's Office.
This investigation focused on the time period ranging between the time Tomaszewski was hired as a corrections officer and the time she was commissioned as a peace officer. The investigaiton did not focus on any events after Tomaszewski was commissioned as an officer.
Sigman also allowed Tomaszewski to perform police duties when she was not an officer. There were multiple instances when Tomaszewski would wear a uniform that was indistinguishable from a Texas County deputy's uniform.
During these instances, she was armed with a Glock pistol owned by the Texas County Sheriff's Office that had been given to her by Sigman, as well as, at times, an AR-15 rifle, normally used by Sigman.
Tomaszewski would frequently go on ride-alongs and search warrants with Sigman and other officers where she would detain suspects, search residences and perform other duties strictly reserved for commissioned officers.
Multiple officers with the Texas County Sheriff's Office, other employees, and officers with other agencies stated the saw Tomaszewski essentially acting like the police on multiple occasions.
Some of the other duties Tomaszewski performed that would normally be strictly reserved for commissioned officers, including acting as an undercover officer during "stings."
During these undercover operations, James Sigman and Deputy Nathan Long decided to ask Tomaszewski to act as an undercover officer to meet with suspects they had met online, which she did.
When asked about this, Tomaszewski stated Deputy Nathan Long asked to act as "Sarah" and meet with the suspects. Nathan Long stated it was him and James Sigman who asked Tomaszewski to participate in the undercover operations and referred to her as the "bait."
During the execution of this search warrant, Tomaszewski pointed a firearm at T.N.R., V. F., J. F, (one-year-old child) N. F. and M. J. This placed all of them in immediate danger and they all stated they feared for their lives.
These individuals were not suspects related to the search warrant and were located across the street. Tomaszewski confronted them because she thought they were video recording the officers and taking pictures, which she mistakenly thought they were not allowed to do. Tomaszewski was wearing a uniform indistinguishable from a deputy's uniform at the time.
While Tomaszewski was pointing her firearm at these individuals, she ordered them to stay in one place together and took at least one cellular telephone from them. The officers on scene serving the warrant stated they thought Tomaszewski as an officer and did not realize otherwise until later. One task force officer stated he saw Tomaszewski pointing a firearm in the back of a male subject lying on the ground and trying to handcuff him with her other hand. He said this was extremely dangerous and he pushed Tomaszewski off of the subject and handcuffed him. Multiple officers stated Sigman was present at this search warrant and allowed all of these things to happen.
On or about September 11, 2017, Tomaszewski threatened inmate M. R. with her life by telling her she was "going to put a f-----g bullet in your head." Tomaszewski made these threats to M. R. because she thought M. R. had her personal address. There were no other legitimate reasons for these
threats to be made to M. R.
While I was speaking with M. R. several weeks after the threats were made to her, she was still visibly emotionally distressed and cried when she told her story.
During the execution of a search warrant at the Texas County HJail, the contents of M. R.'s files were taken. The grievance form filled out by M. R. detailing the incident was not located in the file as it should have been. I obtained a copy of the grievance from other sources. Other jail employees watched the surveillance video from the incident, which they believed confirmed M. R.'s version of events. Sigman was present during this incident and did nothing to intervene or stop the behavior.
On or about February 14, 2018, A. W. was incarcerated in the Texas County Jail. A. W. suffers from obvious mental deficiencies making him have the mental capacity of a nine-year-old child. While A. W. was incarcerated in the jail, he was being held in the "Rubber Room" when an altercation between A. W. Tomaszewski and other corrections officers occurred. The altercation started when A. W. refused to comply with the correction officer's commands and resisted them. During the altercation and use of force by the corrections officers, A. W. was rendered unconcious, possibly inadvertently, due to a "choke hold" placed on him. While the altercation was going on, Texas County deputies were called in to assist in subduing A. W.
When the deputies arrived at the "rubber room," one of them said he saw Tomaszewski on top of A. W. This deputy said he saw Tomaszewski striking A. W. in the face with her elbows while A. W. was completely unconscious and not able to resist the officers.
Another deputy said, "If we hadn't been there, they would have killed that boy. He was completely unconscious and his lips were turning blue." The deputies present also stated Sigman was present throughout the entire altercation and did nothing to intervene once the use of force became excessive.
Other jail employees watched the jail surveillance video from the incident with A. W. Corrections officer No. 1 stated the video depicted the entire incident and he could see A. W. being choked by Corrections Officer No. 2. Corrections Officer No. 1 stated he could see Tomaszewski on top of A. W.'s chest or abdomen. Corrections Officer No. 1 stated it appeared A. W. was unconscious, but he couldn't be sure. He stated, after the altercation, he heard Tomaszewski and Corrections Officer No. 2 bragging about the incident and how they had beat up. A. W. Corrections Officer No. 1 stated he believed the use of force by Corrections Officer No. 2 and Tomaszewski was clearly excessive. He also said he believed Sigman was present throughout the incident and Sigman did nothing to intervene.
Corrections Officer No. 2. said he inadvertently placed the choke hold on A. W. after they both fell to the ground in the altercation. Corrections Officer No. 2 said after it was over him and Tomaszewski were talking about the incident and he said to her, "I hope I was holding him down good enough" and Tomaszewski told him, "I was trying to bust his eardrum out."
Corrections Officer No. 2 said he could not see exactly what was happening during the altercation because A. W. was lying on top of him. He said A. W.'s face was black and blue and he didn't know any other way he could have received the injuries, absent Tomaszewski striking him with what he guessed were her elbows.
During a search warrant at the Texas County Jail, I took the contents of A. W.'s inmate file and his medical file. The inmate file had several incident reports in it that discussed the incident in the rubber room with Tomaszewski. After several interviews with the people involved, it is clear the reports are not accurate.
A. W.'s medical file was supposed to contain a handwritten report by the facility nurse Wanda Etchason. Mrs. Etchason stated she remembers writing the report about A. W.'s injuries and placing it in the file, but the report was not in the file and cannot be located. Mrs. Etchason described A. W.'s injuries as several contusions on his head and face, two black eyes and some minor lacerations.
During an interview with A. W. he stated he was placed unconscious during the altercation and when he woke up, his left eye was bleeding.
D. H. was antagonized by the jail staff, namely Tomaszewski, possibly struck by Tomaszewski, kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time and generally treated inhumanely. An inmate lockdown log for April 13, 2018, shows D. H. was placed on permanent lockdown. Other employees said this was for no reason other than punishment for D. H. and it was excessive.
Since Tomaszewski was hired at the Sheriff's Office, she had been bringing a minor child named W. L. into the jail facility on multiple occasions and around unsecured inmates. W. L. was taken to the jail by Tomaszewski and Sigman on multiple occasions resulting in the jail facility essentially being used as a child care facility by them. While W. L. was at the jail, she was exposed to sexually violent offenders and other dangerous criminals. Specifically, on November 23, 2017, W. L. helped serve meals to the inmates and ate with two inmates in the jail kitchen, one of which was a sexually violent offender from Wright County, Missouri.
Several employees stated W. L. was in immediate danger on multiple occasions while at the Texas County Jail, but there was nothing they could do because of fear of retribution. I have obtained several jail surveillance videos showing W. L. being in the jail facility and around unsecured inmates and in the kitchen where there is easy access to numerous possible weapons.
I also obtained a copy of a jail visitor log showing W. L. was present on November 23, 2017, and serving meals with Tomaszewski. W. L.'s name was scratched out by Sigman and Sigman was angry that W. L. being there had been documented on the visitor log.
Charges filed against Sigman and Tomaszewski are assault, robbery, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful use of a weapon, harassment, and endangering the welfare of a child in ritual/ceremony, all felonies, plus misdemeanor charges of misuse of information by a public servant and false impersonation.
No comments:
Post a Comment