Oct. 03--Albuquerque police officials on Tuesday released a series of text messages between an officer and an underage girl he had written up for a traffic offense, which the officer later dismissed.
The texts, dated June 10, 11 and 12, show officer Frank Tillman asking the girl whether she's still together with her boyfriend, telling her he wants to kiss her and that her being pregnant "is hot and its (sic) a turn on."
Police Chief Ray Schultz confirmed last week that a "third party" notified APD of the texts, prompting an Internal Affairs investigation.
That probe ended with IA investigators and a deputy chief recommending Tillman be fired.
But Schultz, who has the final say on discipline for officers, chose instead to suspend Tillman for 160 hours without pay and reassign him from the traffic unit to a job where he will respond to other types of calls.
APD spokeswoman Tasia Martinez said she didn't know whether Tillman has a cityissued cellphone or whether the texts were sent from his personal phone.
And Martinez didn't know whether the texts were exchanged around the day Tillman dismissed the ticket for the girl. The date of the stop is not known and the girl's age could not be confirmed, other than she is younger than 18.
She said APD released all of the text messages between Tillman and the girl after public records requests from multiple news outlets.
Til lman could not be reached for comment.
Tillman initiated the contact at 8:32 p.m. on June 10, and after the two exchanged greetings, the officer asked the girl: "How's things going with u and ur man?"
She responded: "There (sic) better we have ups and downs but ok," then Tillman asked whether the two were still together.
"No not really," the girl replied.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Reason I ask. Is I think ur beautiful," Tillman wrote. She thanked him, and Tillman wrote: "I want to kiss u lol."
"Lol I dnt think im ready to move on not know that im prego an stuff," the girl responded, then told Tillman "good night."
The next day, at 8:15 a.m., the girl initiated contact with Tillman, texting him: "Good morning."
Tillman responded, writing: "Well I think you being preggo is hot and its (sic) a turn on," then: "U looked very good today."
The girl did not immediately respond, and Tillman texted her again, saying: "Hi." The girl responded with "Hi," then Tillman asked what she was up to. The girl did not respond.
The next day, on June 12, Tillman again texted the girl "Hi" at 1:06 p.m. She did not respond.
Schultz said in an email last week that he chose to overrule the recommended termination after Tillman "participated in a disciplinary hearing and after hearing all info and facts I determined that the suspension was (most) appropriate." Sample text
Text messages APD officer Frank Tillman sent to an underage girl:
"Well I think you being preggo is hot and its (sic) a turn on"
"I want to kiss u lol."
Copyright 2012 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
