TUCSON, Ariz. — The Pima County Sheriff’s decision to put his political rival and one of their supporters on administrative leave could soon be heading to a federal courtroom.
On Friday, NBC affiliate KVOA in Tucson learned Sheriff Chris Nanos was served with a federal lawsuit.
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Lt. Heather Lappin and Sgt. Aaron Cross were both placed on leave earlier this week after the sheriff accused Cross of campaigning in an outfit that he claims closely resembled a department uniform and that Lappin allegedly colluded with a local reporter to pay for an interview with an inmate.
The federal lawsuit was filed against Nanos on behalf of Cross. It accuses Nanos of violating Cross’ civil rights when he decided to place him on administrative leave.
Steve Serbalik is an attorney for AZCOPS, which represents thousands of law enforcement officers across the state. He represents Cross and Lappin.
"It is unprecedented from my experience to have a candidate silenced by their political opponent," said Serbalik.
Cross and Lappin were both just placed on administrative leave by Nanos.
The sheriff’s office says Cross was campaigning for Lappin in an outfit that could be misconstrued as his department uniform. He was told by his supervisors to stop but they claim he did it again on Monday.
Serbalik says this outfit was completely owned by Cross.
“Chorus, you or I could have gone to the protest and worn the exact same outfit and we’re not impersonating a police officer or peace officer in any way shape or form. We have the constitutional right to wear what we want when we’re off duty," Serbalik said to KVOA reporter Chorus Nylander.
Lappin is not named in this lawsuit, but was accused of knowing about the issue with Cross and further accused of colluding with a local reporter to pay an inmate for an interview.
"I haven’t done anything wrong, but they are using this to essentially silence me," Lappin said.
KVOA reached out to Nanos about the lawsuit in a text message. He said he never comments on pending litigation.
Cross and Lappin are bound by a gag order preventing them from addressing the accusations. Serbalik wants that lifted, as people are already voting for the upcoming election he feels irreparable damage is being caused.
“That goes against everything we think the constitution stands for and we look forward to getting this resolved in court," he said.
KVOA asked Serbalik if there could soon be a similar lawsuit on Heather Lappin’s behalf, he said it’s possible, but couldn’t say anything more than that right now.
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