Police chief: 'We stand by what we've done' on officer arrest

Cedar Rapids Police Chief Greg Graham said Friday he has full confidence in the evidence that led to the arrest of a fellow officer on suspicion of third-degree burglary.

Officer Robyn L. Obadal, 36, was arrested Thursday morning at police headquarters when she arrived for her shift. She is accused of entering a back porch attached to a house at 1201 10th St. NW and taking two dogs, police said.

Graham said no force was involved in the burglary, but would not specify how investigators believe she got inside. He also declined to describe any evidence in the case.

“We stand by what we've done,” Graham said.

Obadal, who has spent her entire 14-year career as a police officer in Cedar Rapids, strongly denied the allegations when she was released from jail Thursday. She is on unpaid administrative leave, pending an internal investigation.

“I did not break into a house, and I didn't steal somebody's dogs,” Obadal said. “Anybody who knows me knows I always do the right thing. I don't do the wrong thing.”

Obadal has not yet been formally charged with a crime. Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said the matter is still under review by his office, and he did not expect a decision to be made today.

"The work on it is ongoing, and a decision on it will be forthcoming in the near future,” Vander Sanden said.

Obadal said she was on routine patrol Saturday morning when a woman on a bike stopped her and told her about two loose dogs. Obadal said she located the pit bull and German shepherd nearby, and both were filthy.

Obadal said she determined the dogs had escaped from their kennel in the backyard.

“There was no way I could put them back into the kennel they came out of,” Obadal said. “It was in unsanitary condition.”

Instead, Obadal said she got the dogs in her patrol car.

A few minutes later, she said a man came up to her car and said he would take the dogs and get them back to the owner, whom he claimed to know. Obadal said she did not ask for man's name, but agreed to let him have the dogs, which she said was acceptable practice when handling a loose dog call.

“I was covered in dog feces from head to toe, and my back seat was disgusting from the dogs,” Obadal said. “I had one thing on my mind, and that was getting home to wash up my uniform, wash off and scrub the back seat of my car.”

Obadal said she did not notify dispatchers while she was out with the loose dogs, but did report when she stopped at her residence to clean up. She said doesn't know what the man actually did with the dogs.

Police Capt. Tom Jonker confirmed Friday that Obadal was “right on the border” of her normal patrol area.

Chad Ramey, who owns the house and the dogs but does not live there, said his brother arrived Saturday afternoon and realized the dogs were missing. He reported the burglary a short time later.

Ramey, 27, said the dogs were found Sunday running loose along Ellis Boulevard NW.

In an interview Thursday, Obadal claimed animal control officers had been called to the residence several times, but had not seized the dogs. She said she took pictures of what she believed were unsanitary conditions earlier this month, and forwarded them to animal control.

“If I would have taken those dogs, they would have never come back, I can guarantee that,” Obadal said.

Diane Webber, manager for animal care and control, said she could not comment on any calls to the 10th Street NW residence due to the open police investigation.

Obadal said she was questioned by her superiors earlier in the week about the dogs, and told them her story. When she arrived for work Thursday, she was told she was being arrested. Obadal said she was “shocked” and “dumbfounded.”

“I was advised that disciplinary action could be taken even prior to going to court,” Obadal said. “I expect to be fired.”

If she is formally charged, Obadal is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 10. Third-degree burglary is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years and prison.

Obadal is the third Cedar Rapids officer to attract negative attention since May. K-9 unit Officer Wayne Handeland, a 21-year-veteran, resigned after his squad car was reported at a Marion bar on May 5.

Witnesses told SourceMedia Group he arrived at the bar in the squad car with two women, and appeared intoxicated.

Undisclosed disciplinary action was taken against another officer after he was photographed asleep in his squad car on the morning of May 10. The officer's name was never released.

As the leader of the police department, Graham said he knows the organization as a whole is doing its best.

“This is a great organization, and it is full of truly dedicated, hard-working, true public servants,” Graham said. “We're doing our best to provide a service to the community. On occasion, we're going to have stuff like this that occurs. The important thing is, I'm going to hold officers accountable when they do something wrong.”