BELLE — Belle Officer Erican B. Sugg remains on active duty as he waits for a March 21, 2024, hearing before the Administrative Hearing Commission (AHC) in Jefferson City to determine the future of his peace officer’s license.

Sugg received notice in mid-November from the AHC and Missouri Attorney General’s Office (AGO) of complaints filed against him while he was under the employment of the Maries County Sheriff’s Department.

“The complaint charges that you have violated certain statutes or regulations governing your licensed profession,” the notice begins. “If this commission finds the charges to be true, the petitioner could revoke or otherwise discipline your license.”

The notice came with a copy of the AGO’s 14-page investigation where an individual and witness alleged the officer sexually harassed the victim in front of the witness. The investigation concludes with eight alleged violations against his license.

When asked about the officer’s employment status with the city, Belle Marshal Jerry Coborn said on Monday that Sugg remains on active duty and the schedule per the board of aldermen. Coborn said he had not received a copy of the allegations against his officer until Monday morning when he shared it with the mayor.

“(Sugg) has been very quiet about it,” Coborn said. “The paperwork says he was served and had 30 days to reply. The board asked me about it the other day. He’s got himself a lawyer and his lawyer said not to talk about it.”

When asked if Sugg had any complaints from citizens within the city of Belle, such as a rumored complaint that he was not welcome at a local restaurant, Coborn confirmed that was true.

“Sugg was banned from (a local business),” Coborn said. “The owner texted and called. We’ve talked over the phone. The owner thought Sugg was inappropriately talking to his wife and other employees and asked Sugg not to come back into the restaurant. So I told Sugg not to go back into the restaurant at the owner’s request.”

The City of Belle, previously suggested Sugg as a candidate for School Resource Officer (SRO) to the Maries County R-2 District to fulfill the contract between the city and the school. The school rejected Sugg’s candidacy at the time and requested the city keep looking. The position has yet to be filled.

When asked where in the timeline the situation at the local business occurred versus the city’s SRO recommendation, Coborn said the business ban happened first.

“Sugg was banned from the restaurant way before they recommended him for SRO,” Coborn confirmed.

Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman’s statements from a Dec. 2, 2022, email between his department and White were quoted in the Dec. 21, 2022, edition of The Maries County Advocate. The email exchange was regarding the city’s request for a dispatching service bid from the county. According to the article, “Heitman shared concerns that a current Belle officer had substantiated sexual harassment claims, for which that officer was terminated. Heitman informed the city he would not force the female personnel on staff to be in contact with the former employee.”

White’s said in a December 2022 open meeting, “Maries County sent us a certified letter about the county refusing to submit a bid. Because of the deputies we have working for us, they want nothing to do with us.”

Heitman had expressed at the time that he was open to signing a new mutual aid agreement with the city’s marshal, Jerry Coborn.

Belle PD’s Sgt. Mark Morgan posted July 27 on the Belle Police Department’s Facebook page, “In reference to the comment about former employees having difficulty working together because they were terminated or told their services were no longer needed. I watched an employee get fired without any due process or any evidence of a fair or impartial investigation. The employee in question was supposedly investigated by a supervisor.”

Morgan alleges that his co-worker, Sugg, whom he recommended to White and Coborn to work in Belle, had accused their former Maries County supervisor of wrong-doing and was later investigated by the same supervisor.

“Regarding my past employment with the Sheriff’s Office, I was asked about the termination of the same employee that was terminated, without due process, by a chief of police when the employee applied with his agency,” Morgan posted on the police Facebook page. “I gave him my honest assessment of the termination of the employee. I was let go only a few days later after informing the chief of police about the former employee’s treatment for ‘releasing unauthorized information.’”

Morgan’s post referred to Sugg’s termination and eventual employment with the city. When asked about the investigation into the allegations against the sheriff’s office, Heitman said his department sought outside help from the AG’s Office to avoid any conflict of interest.

“Any employee who has ever been terminated by my agency has always been afforded due process with thorough investigations,” Heitman said. “This investigation was underway prior to Morgan and Sugg’s removal from my department.”

Sugg was terminated from the Maries County Sheriff’s Office in August 2022 and hired by the Belle Police Department on or around December 2022.

Heitman said on Monday that he is relieved the AG’s Office came through with its 16-month investigation and the information made public.

“What is out there in the public is several reasons why (Sugg) is no longer employed by the sheriff’s office,” Heitman said. “My office informed the mayor prior to hiring (Sugg) of (Sugg’s) unethical patterns and again when they were complaining that we would not dispatch for them.”

Heitman said he feels the incidences — and a second private court case that alleges Sugg sexually harassed a co-worker at Hippos LLC in Vienna — establish a pattern of behavior against the officer.

“With the pattern of this officer, I would hope the city would fix their wrong-doing and protect the citizens from this type of behavior,” Heitman said. “The city of Belle and Mayor White was made aware of all of this prior to hiring (Sugg) which is why I was surprised he was hired by the city. The city of Belle and (Belle Sgt.) Mark Morgan — in fact, Mark was with Sugg when one of the allegations occurred — were aware of these allegations and incidents. Which is why I was surprised he was hired by the city and recommended for the school resource officer position. I am glad the school board looked into the situation and didn’t take Mayor White’s recommendation.”

Belle aldermen held a meeting on Monday night with “personnel” listed on the closed session agenda. According to incomplete draft minutes of the meeting on Tuesday, “White asked City Clerk Frankie Horstman and City Treasurer Charro Reasor to leave the closed session meeting while they  met with Sugg. White took the minutes. Waiting on the remainder of the minutes from White.”

White early Tuesday commented for this story to an Advocate correspondent through text messages and an in-person interview which was being recorded with his knowledge. White also provided a written statement to the Advocate reporter.

White made the following comments on the record: “When we hired Officer Sugg a little over a year ago, we checked his previous employment and references and he came with good recommendations, with the exception of Scott John. I met with Scott John at my office at City Hall. He said he had some issues with Sugg, but he never was able to prove anything and at that time the Maries County Sheriff’s Department or POST didn’t have any black and white complaints against Officer Sugg, nor could they show any proof of wrong-doing or even an investigation that was in progress. We did vet him pretty good before we hired him.

“Since then he has been a model police officer and employee for Belle,” White continued. “He’s done a great job. The council is aware of the accusations and takes them seriously, however, at this poinit, they are just accusations. Out of everybody we’ve talked to, we haven’t been shown proof of any wrong-doing. We would be the first ones to do something about it if we found something. We haven’t.

“I have spoken to the council in detail about this to let them know what’s going on and to keep them up to date.

“I believe this is directed to deter the attention away from the many lawsuits and investigations being held against the sheriff’s department. I also believe that the timing of this is pretty coincidental with the sheriff’s election sign-up and stuff. I think something else is going on.

“I do want to point out that he has been a model employee for the last year and we are standing firm with the ideal he is innocent until proven guilty,” the mayor concluded.

1. Throughout this article, Mayor Daryl White, Jr., was acting in his official capacity as mayor. He is referred to as mayor throughout the story and is speaking on behalf of the Belle Board of Aldermen. However, after White’s complaint, The Advocate requested minutes from the meeting where the Aldermen approved Sugg for the SRO position. During an Aug. 8, 2023, closed meeting, Officer Erican Sugg was given a $1 raise under the discussion topic of School Resource Officer but the board did not vote to approve him as a candidate for the SRO position. There is not a recorded vote by the Belle Board of Aldermen to recommend Sugg as SRO to the Maries Couty R-2 Board, according to City Clerk Frankie Horstman, “I have reviewed the minutes from now back to April 2023 and I do not see that there was a motion to offer Officer Sugg the position of SRO.” However, in an interview with Marshal Jerry Coborn on Aug. 21, 2023, he acknowledged that Sugg was recommended to the Maries R-2 Board to fulfill the SRO contract between the school and the city. The district requested that the city keep looking for a qualified SRO candidate at that time.
2. In the front page photograph of Sugg arresting the Grinch at Rodney Durbin’s Nov. 25 Christmas Auction, a cutline explained that the photo, pulled from the Belle Police Department’s Facebook page, was taken while city officials and employees were present to purchase toys with donated funds for the Dec. 16 Christmas Festival. No tax money was spent during the auction or on auction festivities. An article regarding aldermen donating their monthly pay to the Festival is on page 5 of the Dec. 6 edition. 

Editor’s note: The complete report from state agencies is available online at www.GasconadeCountyRepublican.com

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