Commission upholds Cedar Rapids police officer's firing

Civil Service Commissioners today upheld the firing of Robyn Obadal, the Cedar Rapids police officer who was convicted of trespassing in November.

The commission deliberated for about 15 minutes after hearing testimony from Obadal and former police chief Greg Graham. Obadal now has the option to appeal the Commission's decision to District Court, but it was uncertain whether she will.

"I love my job," Obadal said after the hearing Monday.

In November, a magistrate judge ruled that Obadal was “was not acting within the scope of her duties” when she turned loose a German shepherd and a pit bull from an outdoor kennel behind 1201 10th St. NW on July 23.

The dogs were reported missing that afternoon. They were found nearby on Ellis Boulevard NW the next day.

In the 50-minute appeal hearing Monday, Obadal again said she had been concerned about the dogs' living conditions in a kennel attached to the porch of a vacant, flood-damaged home. She denied letting the dogs loose.

Obadal, 37, said she was coming back from another call when she realized she was near the dogs' location, so she decided to stop by and check on them. She admitted she did not advise dispatch of her location because she “didn't think it was going to be a big deal.”

Obadal said she found the dogs running loose, and a neighbor on her bike helped her get the dogs into the back seat of her squad car. The same woman testified at Obadal's criminal trial that she lent Obadal a screwdriver, apparently to release the dogs.

“Before she left, she told me I wasn't supposed to say anything, (and) she was never there,” Stacey Kinkaid testified at the trial.

Obadal painted a different picture Monday. She said the woman told her she was glad someone was finally doing something about the dogs.

“She tried to hug me, and I told her not to, because I was covered in feces,” Obadal said.

Asked after the Monday's hearing why Kinkaid would lie, Obadal's attorney, Bill Roemerman said, “We're not going to speculate on that.”

Obadal said she was “flustered” and agreed to give the dogs to a man who had flagged her down. She said she then went to her southwest Cedar Rapids home to clean up and logged onto the computer to let dispatch know she was taking a bathroom break.

Before Obadal was questioned, Graham, whose first official day as the Ocala, Florida police chief was Sunday, said Obadal was terminated after an internal investigation, the criminal trial and an administrative hearing with him.

“When we become law enforcement officers we take an oath to support, defend and protect the Constitution,” Graham said. “The underlying facts of this were a violation of a citizen's Fourth Amendment rights.”

Obadal had spent her entire 14-year career as a police officer in Cedar Rapids.