Trooper tried helping Yonkers' family

HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) - The Michigan State Police trooper whose report suggested Barry County Deputy Christopher Yonkers died while on duty was trying to get death benefits for the deputy's family, according to documents obtained Friday by 24 Hour News 8.

Read the arbitrator's ruling (pdf)

"The report was not generated for a business purpose, but rather for the purpose of creating a false impression that Deputy Chris Yonkers was on duty with SWET (the Southwest Enforcement Team) on Oct. 18, 2008, at the time he was involved in a fatal accident involving his personally owned motorcycle," state police supervisors wrote.

"The report as a whole casts SWET (the Southwest Enforcement Team) operations and supervision in a false light. The report was designed to obtain benefits for the family of Deputy Yonkers by providing misleading information to non-police entities and the Barry County Sheriff Department."

The new documents are in a recent arbitrator's ruling that lessened the discipline of Trooper Phillip McNabnay, the author of the report suggesting Yonkers was on duty.

"Phil (McNabnay) was trying to do something good," said Michigan State Police Troopers Association President Michael R. Moorman. "He was not trying to do something fraudulent. Ultimately, whether you were on duty or off duty, that (decision) ultimately lies with the federal government."

McNabnay, who worked with Yonkers on the SWET drug team, originally was ordered suspended without pay for 30 days. McNabnay, an eight-year veteran, had an otherwise clean record.

State Police Sgt. James Richardson, who approved the report, was demoted and removed from SWET. State police originally proposed firing him, Moore said.

The arbitrator earlier this month reversed McNabnay's suspension, ruling he should receive no more than a written reprimand.

The arbitrator found that McNabnay believed he had permission from his state police supervisors -- Sgt. Richardson and Lt. Wayne Edington -- to send the report.

The arbitrator also found the state police's investigation into McNabnay's actions was unfair because one of those supervisors, Lt. Edington, also conducted the internal investigation.

The ruling also found state police violated McNabnay's right to speak in his own defense during the internal investigation.

Yonkers, 43, of Hastings, was driving his Indian motorcycle west on M-43 near Usborne Road, north of Hastings, about 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 17 when a car turned left in front of him, police said.

The driver, Justin Malik, 25, of Hastings, faces charges of operating while impaired causing death and driving on a suspended license causing death -- both 15-year felonies.

Immediately after the crash, state police reported Yonkers was off duty. However, the day after, McNabnay visited Yonkers' home to express condolences. While there, he spoke with Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, "who apparently asked McNabnay whether there was a possibility that Yonkers had been 'working' when the accident occurred," the arbitrator's report says.

That is when Yonkers' daughter said her father had told her he was going to conduct a "trash pull" -- checking the garbage of suspected drug dealers for evidence.

The next day, McNabnay wrote a five-page report suggesting Yonkers was on duty.

Believing he had approval from his supervisors, he faxed a copy of the report on Oct. 20 -- three days after the crash -- to the sheriff, the arbitrator's report says. The goal was to send the report to The Thin Blue Line, a non-profit agency that would then help the family receive death benefits.

"If Yonkers had died while on duty, his family could have been entitled to significantly more in monetary benefits than if his death occurred while he was off duty and not otherwise engaged in law enforcement activity," the arbitrator wrote.

It was Oct. 20 when Sheriff Leaf announced Yonkers was on duty after all, and that he'd been following up on a drug tip.

State police have said it's not clear what impact this will have on Yonkers' family.

Officers killed in the line of duty are eligible for $315,746 in death benefits from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance. A spokesman at the federal agency said it sent an application to the Barry County Sheriff's Department in November 2008 -- at the sheriff's request -- but has not received anything back.

Family members have told 24 Hour News 8 they've received some death benefits.

Yonkers' family has disputed the state's findings, believing he was on duty.

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Read the arbitrator's ruling (pdf)