2 Officers Face Negligence Inquiry in Death

Police investigating a Tujunga domestic dispute are narrowing their focus to possible negligence on the part of two patrol officers who left the scene an hour before a woman allegedly bludgeoned her husband to death, a top San Fernando Valley police official said Monday.

Cmdr. Chet Spencer said that based on a preliminary report issued Monday, he is calling for a “complete investigation to determine whether there was neglect of duty on the part of the officers in the case.”

Spencer said the 2 1/2-page preliminary report, which he would not release, summarizes the June 9 incident and acknowledges that the officers called to the Samoa Street apartment left without interviewing Thomas Chapman, 52, the alleged victim of prolonged domestic violence.

Spencer said he has initiated personnel complaints against both Foothill Division officers to determine if disciplinary action is warranted. He withheld their names.

“They didn’t check on the condition of Mr. Chapman,” Spencer said. He said police procedure calls for both spouses in domestic disputes to be interviewed.

Spencer said the preliminary report noted that the officers had received five radio calls in succession and left the Chapmans’ apartment for a sixth assignment. Despite the busy night, Spencer said, “it is policy to check on both and check their condition and find out about their safety. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Thomas Chapman’s 46-year-old wife, Michele Chapman, is scheduled to be arraigned today in San Fernando Municipal Court on a charge of murder.

Capt. Tim McBride, the officers’ commander, said investigators had not yet interviewed the two officers. He, too, noted that they had a busy night but said that “the call they left for wasn’t of extreme urgency.”