Fired officer’s appeal hearing set for Jan. 16

CEDAR RAPIDS - Fired police officer Robyn Obadal will appeal her termination at a hearing in front of the city's Civil Service Commission next month.

The three-member panel last night set the hearing for 9 a.m. Jan. 16. Attorney Bill Roemerman, who has represented officers in front of the commission in the past, appeared at the meeting on Obadal's behalf.

Obadal, 37, was arrested in late July and charged with trespassing, a simple misdemeanor. She was accused of releasing two dogs, a German shepherd and a pit bull, from a kennel behind a vacant house at 1201 10th St. NW.

On Nov. 7, a judge found her guilty and fined her $100. During the three-hour trial, a neighbor testified that she lent Obadal a screwdriver on the morning of July 23, and the prosecution succeeded in making a case that Obadal used the screwdriver to release the dogs. They were found nearby the next day.

In an interview with The Gazette after her arrest on July 28, Obadal said she was concerned about the living conditions of the dogs, but she denied she let them out.

She had been a Cedar Rapids police officer for 14 years, police have said.

The appeal hearing is expected to take a day or less. it likely will be held in a meeting room at the temporary City Hall.