2 San Francisco officers charged with destroying evidence

Apr 19, 2022, 4:23 PM | Updated: 4:37 pm

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two San Francisco police officers and a retired officer working part-time at the department have been charged in two separate cases with destroying evidence, stealing a machine gun and other charges, authorities announced Tuesday.

Officers Kevin Patrick Lyons and Kevin Sien were called to the Marriott Marquis Hotel on July 3, 2021, after employees found multiple credit cards, identification cards and suspected drugs in the luggage of a guest who had been locked out of his room for lack of payment.

But instead of collecting the items as evidence, Lyons and Sien shredded the credit cards and IDs and Lyons flushed the alleged drugs down a hotel toilet, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

They allegedly told hotel staff that cataloging the evidence would take too long, the office said.

Both officers, who turned themselves in to authorities Tuesday, have been charged with destroying evidence. Their attorneys didn’t immediately return messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

“San Francisco residents trust the police to conduct the investigative work so my office can bring cases that keep the city safe,” District Attorney Chesa Boudin said. “These officers undermined their own colleagues, my office, and our criminal justice system as a whole by destroying and concealing the evidence of a crime, simply because they didn’t want to take the time to do their jobs.”

The union representing both officers said the facts of the case will show the charges were not warranted.

“We encourage everyone to remember that these individuals are presumed innocent until proven otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt,” Tracy McCray, acting president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association said in a statement.

In a separate case, retired San Francisco Police Officer Mark Williams was charged with unlawful possession of a machine gun, possession of a silencer, and embezzlement after he allegedly removed a submachine gun from the department’s evidence room, where he was working part-time, the DA’s office said.

In August, police department staffers were doing an inventory of the property control division when they found a firearm was missing. The department launched an investigation, found Williams was in possession of the missing weapon and officials immediately terminated him from his part-time job, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.

Last week, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Williams, too, turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday, officials said.

His attorney, Anthony Brass, said Williams retired from the department in 2017 and admits taking the gun but that the gun was missing some parts and didn’t work and he never tried to make it operational.

“He simply took the weapon home for his own curiosity and he very much realizes that decision was a poor one and is appropriately remorseful for having created this situation,” Brass said.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said the officers’ actions violate the law and “fall far short of our department’s shared values.”

“As sworn police officers, we have no higher obligation than to earn and maintain public trust, and we are disappointed that these incidents detract from the outstanding work done by our officers and non-sworn members every day,” Scott said.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Haitian migrant Gerson Solay, 28, carries his daughter, Bianca, as he and his family cross into Can...
Associated Press

US, Canada to end loophole that allows asylum-seekers to move between countries

President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement.
2 days ago
Expert skateboarder Di'Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and...
Associated Press

Indigenous skateboard art featured on new stamps unveiled at Phoenix skate park

The Postal Service unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard" stamps at a Phoenix skate park, featuring designs from Indigenous artists.
2 days ago
(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
8 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
16 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
16 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
23 days ago

Sponsored Articles

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...
Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.
(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...
Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.
(Desert Institute for Spine Care photo)...
DESERT INSTITUTE FOR SPINE CARE

Why DISC is world renowned for back and neck pain treatments

Fifty percent of Americans and 90% of people at least 50 years old have some level of degenerative disc disease.
2 San Francisco officers charged with destroying evidence