LA VERGNE, Tenn. — Five La Vergne police officers were fired this week as part of an ongoing investigation into multiple sexual events between members of the department’s evening shift, a city spokesperson told WSMV 4, a sister station with WBIR. Three other officers were placed on unpaid suspension under the same investigation.
The investigation started on Dec. 12 when Mayor Jason Cole reported rumors of the sexual acts to the city’s human resources department, according to a shocking investigative report obtained by WMSV 4 through a records request.
Cole said he received information from a source that officer Maegan Hall was having intimate relationships with other members of the La Vergne Police Department. Those employees include Sgt. Lewis Powell, Officer Patrick Magliocco, Officer Larry Holladay, Detective Seneca Shields and Officer Juan Lugo-Perez, according to the report.
All of the men admitted to having undisclosed sexual relationships with Hall, the investigative report said. It adds Sheilds told city officials Hall performed oral sex on him while they were on duty inside the police department gym before returning to their desks to finish the workday.
The report also uncovered a “Girls Gone Wild”-type party involving multiple officers and their families in a hot tub on La Vergne police Sgt. Eric Staats’ houseboat. The report says Hall’s top came off and officers were drinking heavily.
Hall, Lugo‐Perez, Powell, Shields and Sgt. Henry Ty McGowan were fired. Holladay, Magliocco and Officer Gavin Schoeberl were suspended.
La Vergne has a 60-person police department, with 11 open sworn positions.
Staats, who is the La Vergne Fraternal Order of Police president, said he is aware of the investigation and none of the officers involved want to comment at this time. It’s unclear yet if appeals will be filed.
WSMV’s Brendan Tierney combed through the 20-page investigative report and found multiple mentions of sexual acts being performed at the department’s substation, officers participating in open marriages with each other and sending explicit naked photos between officers.
The report also said officers held football watch parties where officers drove under the influence of alcohol, kissed and discussed having threesomes with Hall and their wives.