Perryville Police Chief turns in resignation; aldermen have to approve agreement

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Police Chief Keith Tarrillion, embattled by allegations he falsified a police report in a personal insurance claim two years ago, tendered his resignation Wednesday from a department he served for two decades.

Tarrillion has denied the allegations since the accusations were made by someone within his department. On Wednesday, he reiterated those denials and referred all other questions to his attorney.

"There's no truth to it," he said. "But I don't want to say anything that might hurt me down the road."

News on Wednesday helped crystallize accusations leveled against Tarrillion, who joined the Perryville Police Department in 1993 and was elected chief nearly a decade later.

A news release issued by Perryville officials describes what appears to be an insurance scam in which allegedly Tarrillion created a police report, using another officer's name, outlining an investigation into the vandalism of a hot tub and a small table at his home. Later, Tarrillion received nearly $5,700 from his insurance company, the release said. Perryville officials again vowed to turn over the findings to the appropriate agency for potential criminal proceedings.

The resignation was effective Wednesday, according to Trae Bertrand. Tarrillion's lawyer. The city's board of aldermen intends to approve the resignation agreement at its regular meeting Tuesday, Bertrand said, adding the resignation would be nullified if the board rejects the agreement. Should that happen, Bertrand said, Tarrillion would return being on paid leave.

Bertrand declined to discuss any compensation Tarrillion would receive under the agreement, but he said it likely would become public record shortly after the vote.

"I said we've reached an agreement," Bertrand said. "If the board approves it, my guess is you'll see the whole thing. But I don't want to get into the details of the agreement right now."

Tarrillion has been on voluntary leave since late February, when he became the focus of a professional misconduct claim made by a police department employee. A subsequent investigation found Tarrillion filed a false report under another officer's name when a small table and hot tub were damaged at his home in 2010.

The property damage report, which was sent by Perryville officials to the Southeast Missourian on Wednesday, appears to have been written by Jon M. Lanier, but city officials on Tuesday said that Tarrillion actually wrote it. "The investigating officer listed on that police report has provided convincing evidence that he did not author the report," a news release that accompanied the report stated. Personnel records show Lanier wasn't working the day the report was made.

Perryville officials said results of the probe will be sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol or another agency for further investigation. The Perryville Police Department is precluded from investigating the claim.

The patrol has yet to receive a request to handle the investigation, said Lt. Tim Hull.

Paul Nenninger, a retired Secret Service agent from Cape Girardeau, was hired as a special investigator to look into the claims. Nenninger interviewed all current members of the police department except Tarrillion, the news release said.

ssmoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

215 N. West St., Perryville, Mo.