More Details Emerge In Fayetteville Officer’s Arrest

FAYETTEVILLE — A former Fayetteville police officer accused of burglary, sexual assault and rape had no known prior criminal history or job complaints, but investigators haven’t ruled out the possibility of more victims, Sgt. Craig Stout said Saturday.

Jamison Stiles, 31, of 8670 W. Goose Greek Road was arrested Friday, accused of sexually assaulting a Fayetteville woman in October and sexually assaulting another woman last summer.

The arrest came after more than a month of investigation of police records and interviews, according to a news release Friday evening.

Stiles was fired from the police force Monday after he didn’t cooperate with detectives in their investigation — a requirement for officers. He has worked as an overnight patrol officer since January 2011, however, and was an officer for 13 months with the Rogers Police Department before that.

“There is absolutely potential that there could be other victims,” Stout told reporters Saturday. “At this point, we don’t know.”

According to a preliminary report of the arrest, Stiles and another officer arrested an intoxicated woman after midnight Oct. 26 on North Block Avenue. Instead of taking her to the detention center, however, Stiles took the woman to her apartment about 12:30 a.m. at Cliffs Apartments off North Crossover Road. Stout added the woman had no memory of returning to her apartment.

Using global positioning system records of Stiles’ patrol car, detectives determined Stiles returned to that location at 2 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. At the time Stiles lived in the same complex and was employed as a courtesy officer with a master key, Stout said. The victim said she awoke naked at 4:30 a.m. to see a uniformed officer standing over her. The two talked, then he pulled her covers down, grabbed her breast and left.

Stiles was the only officer in the area at the time of the arrest, Stout said. His three visits to the area that morning likely wouldn’t have drawn suspicion without the woman’s report.

“The role of the patrol often is to literally patrol,” he said. “We want them in neighborhoods.”

Stout added the department was investigating past calls from the apartment complex reporting indecent exposure and other crimes.

The woman reported the incident Nov. 10, according to the report, and identified Stiles from a photo line-up. An internal investigation began three days later.

Stiles was relieved of his badge and gun and placed on administrative leave Dec. 4, when detectives found reason to launch a separate criminal investigation. He was fired Monday but was arrested four days later because the criminal investigation needed more time, Stout said.

On Tuesday, according to the report, a former police employee told an officer Stiles had sexually assaulted her in the early morning hours of July 8 while he was in uniform and on duty. Detectives said Stiles used police records to find the victim’s address and forced his hands under her underwear twice as she stood in her driveway. Stout said it was unclear if the incident was the reason the woman later left the department.

Stout said officers undergo a background check and psychological evaluation before being hired. Investigators would continue to look at Stiles’ evaluation and other records to see if anything might’ve indicated or predicted Stiles was a risk, he added.

James Allen, the Rogers police chief, said Stiles left the department before he became chief in April 2011. He said he had no knowledge of Stiles’ time there or why he left, but said information might become available after Monday.

Stout acknowledged the damage caused by the case to the department’s reputation.

“This is going to give our department a black eye for a long time,” Stout said. “The men and women of the Fayetteville Police Department are infuriated by this. It’s given all law enforcement a bad name.”

Stiles was been released on a $50,000 bond he posted Saturday afternoon.