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Forest Heights mayor says she is not guilty

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005

Forest Heights Mayor Joyce Beck said she is innocent of charges brought against her.

‘‘I am not guilty,” she said. ‘‘Everything else has to be reserved until all of this is over.”

Beck said her attorney instructed her not to comment on the assault charges recently filed against her.

She also declined to comment to questions about a reported petition started by residents to oust her.

Several Forest Heights residents also declined to comment on recent events involving the termination of the town’s chief of police following his investigation resulting in assault charges against the town’s mayor.

Beck terminated the employment of her town’s chief of police, Michael Eubank, shortly after being served a summons relating to a criminal investigation initiated by the police department, according to the former chief.

The former chief of the Forest Heights police force said he responded to a report made by one of his officers, Lt. William Waithe, that Beck had allegedly assaulted the officer by slamming a door into his forearm.

‘‘The mayor and the council have been at odds on different situations,” Eubank said, adding that he had tried to stay out of political matters. ‘‘When an alleged assault occurred, I put everything aside and conducted an impartial [investigation].”

Former council member Carmelita Smith-Barnes, who served with the town from May 2003 until May 2005, has also filed charges against the mayor. According to her statement of charges, filed Oct. 20, Smith Barnes said the mayor ‘‘assisted in the pushing of doors which caused me to lose my standing position.”

Smith-Barnes said she could not comment on her case, as it is still pending, but she did say attention should be given to the status of the town council, saying that the most recent alleged incidents are ‘‘awakening people’s knowledge of what is really going on.”

She said some residents have misunderstood the role of the council, and many have been unable to attend town meetings because they participate in Bible study. ‘‘Some of the townspeople are under the impression that the council works for the mayor,” Smith-Barnes said, adding that she told some residents that the council represents the people.

Eubank said the alleged assault against his officer occurred Sept. 12, and because he was off work on that date and also did not see Waithe on Sept. 13, it was not until Sept. 15 that he spoke with the officer about the incident.

‘‘I sent him to the hospital to get himself checked out,” Eubank said, adding that the officer was diagnosed with a mild contusion to the forearm and was given painkillers.

He said when he told the mayor that an investigation would be forthcoming, she said she could not believe an investigation would be started ‘‘for something as trivial as this.”

Eubank said his investigation took about a month and a half, and he went to the Attorney General’s Office as well as the State’s Attorney’s Office to, in his words, ‘‘remain impartial.”

James Cabezas, chief investigator with the Office of the State Prosecutor acknowledged the case. ‘‘They have complained to our office,” he said. ‘‘Beyond that, our policy is not to comment.”

Eubank said the sheriff’s department served Beck with a criminal summons on Oct. 24, and he received notice that he would be fired the next day.

‘‘She [was] served on Monday, I get fired on Tuesday,” he said, adding that the chief of police serves at the will of the mayor in accordance with the town charter.

Asked whether the termination was in relation to the criminal charges being filed, Eubank said he could not say for sure. ‘‘It could possibly be related,” he said. ‘‘I can’t second guess her intentions.”

Ramon Korionoff, spokesperson for the State’s Attorney’s Office, said State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey recused himself from the case to avoid a potential conflict of interest. He said the criminal case would be heard in Calvert County, and no date had yet been set.

E-mail Leslie Quander Wooldridge at lwooldridge@gazette.net.