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Police captain accused of assault Dispatcher says Ashland officer injured her hand By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � Police Capt. Lisa Brooks was placed on paid leave last week after a dispatcher reported being assaulted by Brooks at the police station. Mary Ann Siegel, an Ashland Police Department clerk/dispatcher, filed a report Thursday alleging her wrist was injured Wednesday when Brooks assaulted her, according to Ashland Police Chief Scott Fleuter. Fleuter placed Brooks on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation of the incident, which occurred about 5:30 a.m. Fleuter also forwarded the report to the Oregon State Police, standard protocol when department employees are involved in a complaint. OSP Lt. Dan Durbin said Monday he is investigating the incident as a possible fourth-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor. Citing the ongoing investigations, Durbin and Fleuter declined to talk about details of the incident. Durbin said he plans to forward a report of the criminal investigation to Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston this week. Huddleston is expected to refer the case outside the county to avoid any conflict of interest. Meanwhile, Fleuter said his internal investigation is on hold while he waits for Durbin�s report. He said he�ll have to look at the "totality of the circumstances" before making a decision on the fate of Brooks� position with the department. As the department�s only captain, Brooks� duties include budgeting and overseeing support staff, including the dispatch unit, Fleuter said. A source familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Mail Tribune the alleged assault is somehow connected to an incident hours earlier. Siegel was dispatching when Ashland police held a nearly two-hour standoff with an intoxicated man who reportedly brandished a black-powder rifle and shouted anti-Semitic slurs from a Sheridan Street home. Brooks was called in to act as public information officer and to assist Sgt. Teresa Evans, who was incident commander, Fleuter said. Several hours after the standoff ended, the source said, Brooks and Siegel had a dispute in the police station lunch room after Siegel � who is Jewish � corrected Brooks� pronunciation of "yarmulke," a Jewish skullcap. The verbal dispute led to the alleged assault, the source said. Brooks and Siegel each declined to discuss details of the incident. "I can�t comment because there is no way that I would want to compromise this investigation," Siegel said. "I want the people of this community to know the truth." Siegel, an Ashland dispatcher for three months, said she will be off work until at least Monday. Her right hand is in a cast after she suffered an injured bone at the base of her thumb. Siegel said doctors aren�t sure whether the bone is broken. She�s planning to have the cast removed and more X-rays taken Monday. "I want to go back (to work)," Siegel said. "I don�t do well with idle time. I like my job." Brooks joined the Ashland Police Department as a Police Explorer in 1982 and has been with the department ever since, except for a yearlong stint as a telecommunications specialist for Southern Oregon Regional Communications in 1987. Brooks worked as an Ashland police clerk/dispatcher from 1983 until she went to work for SORC. She returned to the police department in 1988, when she was hired as a police officer. In 1993, at age 30, Brooks became Ashland�s first female police sergeant. She was promoted to captain in March of last year. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA