Police Chief, Wife Deny They Had Fight at Hotel

Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach is being investigated for suspected domestic violence after a hotel security guard told police he saw Leach strike his wife in a San Diego hotel room last week, an allegation that Leach and his wife deny.

San Diego Assistant Police Chief Rulette Armstead said guards at the Bahia Resort Hotel on Mission Bay called police after hearing a woman’s screams shortly before 1:40 a.m. Sept. 30. Armstead said one guard told officers that, while looking into the hotel room’s bathroom window, he saw a man hit a woman on the shoulder and stamp on her foot.

Armstead identified Leach and his wife, Connie, as the couple involved in the incident. The couple said there was no violence and that the incident was a minor quarrel.

“My husband did not touch me. He never has.... He’s a very kind and gentle man,” said Connie Leach. “There’s no story. We had an argument.”

Leach was at the hotel for a gathering of the Riverside County Law Enforcement Assn., which is made up of chiefs and high-ranking officials.

Both Leach and his wife declined to reveal the subject of their argument but said it lasted less than 10 minutes. Both were adamant that it was impossible to look into their room through the bathroom window because of the window’s size and location and because the bathroom door was shut.