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Alleged Victim Testifies In Lexington Police Sgt.’s Misconduct Trial

Posted at 3:11 PM, Feb 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-05 16:09:22-05

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – Several witnesses, including the alleged victim, testified Tuesday in the trial of a Lexington police officer charged with official misconduct in relation to an alleged stalking case.

The prosecution is calling this “a case of jealousy.”

Sergeant Jervis Middleton was accused of stalking a woman he had been in a previous relationship with. Police say on Aug. 3, 2018, the department was contacted by a woman who wanted to file a complaint against Middleton. Police immediately started investigating and transferred Middleton to an administrative assignment within the department that same day.

As a result of the investigation, police say Middleton was charged with official misconduct in the second-degree Aug. 14, 2018,  for allegedly using law enforcement resources to obtain information about the victim.

According to court documents, the woman says she had been involved with Middleton for more than a year, and that she believed he had been spying on her and exhibiting “stalking” behavior.

One officer testified that he was asked by Middleton to drive by the house and see if there were any vehicles in the driveway and to get plate numbers. Officers said that Middleton would text members of his force to run license plate numbers of cars.

Text messages show that Middleton would ask officers not to get on the radio with the numbers and said he was doing “covert s**t.” The defense pointed out that it was common for officers to run plates.

An emergency protective order against Middleton was dropped due to insufficient evidence, according to officials.

The woman who filed the order appeared on the stand and testified that she met Middleton at a local gym. She testified that Middleton would show up in random places when she hadn’t told him where she was going.

The name of a man that the victim went out with also matched one of the names that had been searched in the police database.

She wrote in the petition that he stole her phone, admitted to driving by her house on several occasions, and that she believes she saw him on the roof of her home watching her and a friend through a window.