Editor’s Note: There has been a verdict in this case. “Jury awards $180,000 in damages in former Dunwoody police lieutenant’s civil trial”
Three former Dunwoody Police officers testified in DeKalb State Court on Tuesday that former Lt. Fidel Espinoza harassed them in person and through social media channels while they were employed by the department.
Espinoza, however, said that the messages were no more than “locker room chatter between friends.”
The ex-employees – Roger Halstead, Brian Bolden, and Austin Handle – testified for the plaintiffs, Lelia and Bryan Castellanos, who are suing Espinoza for $500,000, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, invasion of privacy, and conduct unbecoming an officer.
The case is being heard by DeKalb Judge Ana Maria Martinez, who was re-elected for the post in the May 21 primary election.
Halstead, who worked as a patrol officer at the department from 2015 to 2019, testified first, saying that Espinoza formed a text group of those in his inner circle that he classified as “officers who act like belligerent frat boys.”
In those texts, Halstead said the lieutenant, who created a Snapchat group called “F*ck Boys,” continuously requested the members of the group, which included Castellanos and Halstead, to send pictures of their genitals to him.
“The majority of the requests were highly sexualized in nature and inappropriate,” Halstead said. “It was exhausting to get these again and again.”
Halstead, while he wouldn’t comply with the requests, said he would “play along just to cope with it.”
When asked if he had taken his concerns to a superior or Dunwoody’s human resources department, Halstead said he sent a “covert message” to his supervisor, Sean Lenahan, and later made an online complaint to human resources.
On cross-examination, Espinoza’s attorney, Ted Meeker, asked Halstead if he remembered touching Espinoza’s buttocks “five to 10 times,” which Halstead denied.
Halstead, upon questioning, admitted to attending an Atlanta United game with Espinoza after the officer left the department. On redirect, when questioned by the plaintiff’s attorney, Ben Bengtson, Halstead said he felt that Espinoza “wanted something more, like a homosexual relationship.”
Bolden, a prison transport officer who worked at the department from 2013 to 2022, testified next, saying that Espinoza continually harassed him to send pictures of a sexual nature, and that Espinoza used to call his penis “the turtle.”
Bolden said he reported his concerns to his superior, Deputy Chief David Barnes, but no action was taken. Bolden said that later Espinoza told him he knew about his claim, and told him, “You’ll never win.”
“He told me, ‘You’re f*cking complaining about me and you’re going to get f*cking buried,’” Bolden testified.
Bolden further testified that he had submitted a written complaint to another superior, Maj. Oliver Fladrich, who “tore it up in front of me and told me it wasn’t going anywhere.”
Bolden was fired in 2022 after a weeks-long internal investigation about whether he had violated certain department policies.
Earlier that year, Bolden was accused of breaking departmental policies related to “public criticism” and “misuse of position” regarding his actions surrounding the arrest of former officer Robert Parsons on DUI charges.
The final witness of the morning, Austin Handle, who was on the force from 2018-2020, testified that Espinoza targeted him for minor violations for which other officers were not penalized, including wearing a hat indoors and minor attendance issues.
Both Handle and Bolden claim that Espinoza was the mastermind behind their firings after they took to social media to expose the alleged corruption within the department.
The most poignant testimony of the day came from the plaintiffs, Bryan and Leila Castellanos, both of whom became emotional when talking about the toll that Espinoza’s alleged abuse took on them personally and on their marriage.
At the request of both attorneys, Bryan Castellanos, who was named “Officer of the Year” in 2018, read transcripts of the messages that were exchanged between he and Espinoza, which involved the former lieutenant asking him to send pictures of his genitals and to service him sexually. He also claimed that Espinoza fondled him in front of a sergeant after role call.
Bryan Castellanos said he didn’t report Espinoza because the former lieutenant was the point person for lucrative off-duty jobs that sometimes accounted for 30-to-50 percent of his regular salary as a police officer.
“I saw what happened when the other officers complained, and I couldn’t risk bringing it up, seeing that nothing was done,” he said. “I just tried to ignore it and brush it off.”
Meeker questioned Castellanos about several text messages that referenced the word “turtle,” which the former Dunwoody officer acknowledged that he had sent. Castellanos also was shown a picture of a penis that was sent through Snapchat and asked him if he recognized it. Castellanos refused to identify the picture.
The jury of nine men and three women, chosen from a pool of 36 jurors, also heard testimony from former Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan, who detailed the process in which an internal investigation was handled after the allegations against Espinoza came to light in spring of 2020.
Grogan said no action was taken to discipline Espinoza because “he was no longer employed” when the investigation concluded. He admitted that disciplinary action would have been taken if Espinoza was still working for the Dunwoody Police Department.
Espinoza, who was called by the plaintiff’s attorney to testify, claimed that the text messages asking Castellanos for “hand jobs” and explicit photos were nothing but consensual ribbing “between two best friends.”
Bengtson asked Espinoza about several specific text messages, querying him after each, “So this is just locker room activity?” to which Espinoza replied in the affirmative. Upon questioning, Espinoza said he didn’t remember sending most of the texts but didn’t deny their existence.
Espinoza said, when asked about several of the more explicit texts, including one in 2017 wherein he asked Bryan Castellanos for intimate pictures so he could masturbate while looking at them, that they were merely “just for awe and shock” value.
He admitted to taking a picture of Castellanos’ penis secretly while the officer was urinating and sending it to the officer.
Castellanos said the message that he felt Espinoza was implying when sending the text was, “I’m going to get what I want.”
The plaintiffs rested their case around 5:30 p.m. The defense is expected to present its case on Wednesday.
