SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Alarming audio files and documents from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department’s Internal Affairs Division have been released about the sexual misconduct investigation into ex-deputy Richard Fischer who was accused of assaulting 16 women. Team 10 has started pouring through the records.
In one audio clip, an Internal Affairs interviewer is heard questioning, "As you're buckling her, did you say, 'I hope your husband doesn't mind?'" He responded, "I don't recall saying that." He was apparently being questioned about his interaction with a handcuffed woman who was in his patrol car. "Okay. Well, do you recall if your arm or your palm of your hand touched her breast?" she asked. He said, "No. I would say I can't recall for sure if I accidentally touched- rubbed against- not rubbed. Um, unintentionally touched her breast with my arm as I buckled her in."
In another clip, a woman is heard describing how she says Fischer placed her hand on his private area. She said, "Oh my God. I was, like, in a panic. I didn't know what to do."
The hours of audio recordings and hundreds of pages of reports from the Department have now been made public. For months, San Diego police agencies have been working to release past records related to officer misconduct, following last year's groundbreaking order by the courts. It came after ABC10 News and other media sued to keep some police unions from blocking departments from giving up files.
Fischer pleaded guilty last year to multiple assault charges, following accusations that he groped, hugged or tried to kiss more than a dozen women while he was on-duty.
Records released show copies of texts from a woman who he pulled over. They read, in part, “He asks me if I wanted to make out. I swear to God [redacted] every single word of this is true."
Several times throughout the audio recordings, he's asked about women who he had met while he was on calls or doing traffic stops. "Did you, um, ask her, if [she] were older if she would ever go on a date with you?" asked the interviewer. "I don't believe I did. No,” he responded. "Is it possible you asked her that?" she asked. He replied, "[I’m] probably [going to] say ‘no’. I don't remember asking her that."
This May, Fischer was released from jail on custody credits, just months after being sentenced to four years behind bars.
