The relative of a Minneapolis police officer who claims he threatened to shoot her was mad over family money issues when she made the accusation and has a history of being dishonest, according to statements her relatives reportedly gave to the officer’s defense attorney.
The woman’s mother and sister both told James John Lopez’s attorney that they were there when when the alleged dispute took place between the longtime Minneapolis police officer and one of his female relatives at Lopez’s St. Paul home last October, according to legal documents filed recently in Ramsey County District Court.
The assertions were included in a list of stipulated facts submitted to the court by attorneys for both parties in the case that Ramsey County District Judge Timothy Mulrooney will use to determine Lopez’s guilt in place of a jury trial.
Lopez faces charges of threats of violence and 5th degree assault from the alleged Oct. 16 incident.
He was arrested after the relative told police Lopez threatened to hide in the woods and shoot her while she was at his St. Paul house visiting from out-of-town, according to a criminal complaint filed against him.
According to the woman’s account, the incident took place while Lopez was drinking after he fought with his wife, charges say.
It was while his wife was subsequently packing up her belongings to leave that Lopez pointed at the relative and made the threat, the complaint said.
A DIFFERENT NARRATIVE
Statements by others reportedly present during the altercation that are detailed in the stipulated facts that the judge will use to decide the case lay out a different narrative.
The woman’s mother, sister and niece told police a different story about what happened, according to the legal document.
All three reportedly told Lopez’s defense attorney, Robert Fowler, that they were present when the confrontation took place and that it was triggered by a statement Lopez made about the woman’s Wiccan beliefs.
Lopez called her a witch and told her to leave his house, they said, according to the legal filing.
None of them recalled him threatening to shoot the woman, nor that he appeared drunk at the time.
WAS FAMILY DISPUTE A FACTOR?
Instead, they said they didn’t think the woman was being truthful about what happened and suggested that she was upset at the time over a family financial issue, according to the legal document.
They added that neither Lopez nor the woman like each other.
Lopez opted not to make a statement on his behalf, according to the court filing.
The filing also notes that the officer who responded to the call-for-service did not interview any other witnesses other than the woman and her sister, nor did he go to Lopez’ house to conduct a breath test or interview him about what happened.
COP’S WIFE CONFIRMS WOMAN’S ACCOUNT
The criminal complaint, conversely, said that the investigator talked with Lopez’s wife as well as the woman’s father about the incident, both of whom confirmed the woman’s account, charges say.
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It also said Lopez’s wife told the officer at the time that her husband had threatened to kill her in the past, once putting a gun to her head. She said she never reported it for fear of what Lopez might do.
In an application for an order for protection shortly after he was charged, Lopez’s wife wrote that her husband had also spit on her in the past, pushed her and sometimes tried to scare her by intentionally speeding while driving with her before slamming on the brakes.
When she threatened to call the police, he’d tell her he would “get out of it” and kill her, she wrote in her application.
Her order for protection was granted late last October and subsequently dismissed this past January when she got a harassment restraining order in its place.
Lopez denies the allegations made in the order but did not object to it, court records say.
COP, WIFE DIVORCE GRANTED IN MAY
Lopez petitioned to divorce his wife this past winter and a judge granted the request in May.
The two married in 1986.
Lopez has pleaded not guilty to the charges facing him.
The judge presiding over his criminal case is expected to issue his decision before the end of the year.
A motion hearing is scheduled Wednesday afternoon.
Lopez was relieved of duty from the Minneapolis police department after he was charged, meaning he is still being paid but is no longer on active duty.