Shane Lamond, MPD Lieutenant Under Investigation For Ties to Proud Boys, Accused of Time Theft Two Years Ago – Washington City Paper

About two years before D.C. Police Lt. Shane Lamond was suspended, in February 2022, for accusations of improper communication with the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys, he was accused of time theft, according to information provided to City Paper and confirmed by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Director Carolyn Montagna, Lamonds direct supervisor, was also accused of approving overtime for him, according to information from multiple sources familiar with the allegations, who provided details on the condition that they not be named. These sources also allege that Montagna and Lamond were in a romantic relationship at the time.

Internal Affairs Division Sergeant David Chumbley investigated some, but not all, of these allegations and left several key questions unanswered, according to the sources information. Chumbley, one of the officers involved in a separate complaint around a t-shirt with racist implications, requested that his superiors cancel the inquiry. It is unclear from the information provided to City Paper whether Chumbleys supervisors agreed with his recommendation and what, if any, further investigation occurred.

MPD spokesperson Dustin Sternbeck confirms that MPD opened an investigation and says it is now closed. Sternbeck would not provide any further details. Chief Robert Contee did not respond to an email that requested an interview and contained a list of the details City Paper intended to publish. The department generally does not provide the public with details of personnel matters, which can be embarrassing for individual officers and for the department. Neither Lamond nor Montagna responded to City Papers emails seeking comment.

Contees silence stands in stark contrast to the special access to investigatory details MPD recently gave to the Washington Post. In May, the Post published a detailed account of MPDs search for the person who fired more than 200 rounds at Edmund Burke School and the surrounding area. Post reporter Peter Hermann was granted early and exclusive access to MPDs investigation, according to the article, a move that angered members of the local press corps.

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In June of 2020, four MPD employees noticed an irregularity in the departments timekeeping database with Lamonds overtime. They reported to the internal affairs division that Montagna and Lamond were stealing time, according to the sources information. Montagna is Lamonds supervisor and the civilian director of MPDs Joint Strategic and Tactical Analysis Command Center, a hub of information responsible for providing crime alerts to MPDs command staff and to the public. The center also gathers and analyzes information, including from social media, to assist MPD investigators and coordinates with federal agencies.

The four MPD employees alleged that Montagna entered 99 hours of overtime for Lamondan excessive amount compared to others in his unit, the four employees told MPDs internal affairs division. The four employees also alleged that Lamond and Montagna consistently left work for long periods of time while on duty and that their relationship was common knowledge among command center staffers, according to information from City Papers sources.

The complainants told an internal affairs agent they suspected Montagna had abused her authority by entering Lamonds overtime given their alleged relationship.

Screenshots of MPDs internal timekeeping database, which another source shared with City Paper, indicate that for the pay period ending June 6, 2020, Lamond was paid for 80 hours of regular work, 99.99 hours of overtime, and eight hours of CT or comp time. The screenshots show one other employee with 99.99 hours of overtime, but most others range from 20 to 45 hours.

The timekeeping database tracks which employees enter or alter overtime, and the screenshots provided to City Paper indicate that over the course of five days, from June 3 to 7, Montagna modified Lamonds timesheet 14 times.

About a month after the internal affairs division received the complaints, Chumbley requested the investigation be canceled and that no further action be taken, according to the sources.

In his request, Chumbley described the investigative work he did to arrive at his conclusion. According to sources, Chumbley only interviewed two of the four complainants, who were unable to provide direct evidence to support their allegations of time fraud other than the outsized overtime.

Chumbley then reviewed Lamonds overtime hours and noted that for the pay period in question, Lamond was paid for 87.9 hours of overtime related to the George Floyd protests, 26.6 hours of overtime for callback for intelligence cases, and 11.3 hours of overtime for COVID-19 screening, according to information provided by City Papers source.

Chumbley noted that Lamonds 125.8 overtime hours was consistent with other members of the department who were integral in the response to the George Floyd protests and he found nothing suspicious or irregular, according to the source. He also noted that it is within MPD policy for supervisors to enter subordinates time and attendance.

But nowhere in Chumbleys request to cancel the investigation does he say that he looked into the allegations that Montagna and Lamond are in a romantic relationship or that they regularly disappeared for extended periods of time while on duty, according to the source.

There is also no indication that Chumbley interviewed Lamond or Montagna.

Multiple sources familiar with MPDs internal investigations say that the request to cancel an investigation is unusual, especially without speaking to the accused or interviewing all complainants. Its unclear what steps MPD took after Chumbley passed the case to the assistant chief, whether there was further investigation, or how the case was resolved. MPD will not provide those details. Chumbley did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Lamond is still suspended while hes under investigation by MPD, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly communicating with former Proud Boys leader Henry Enrique Tarrio. The Post quoted Tarrio saying he communicated with Lamond when the Proud Boys planned to be in D.C. Tarrio told the Post that his contact with Lamond was professional and that Lamond would tell him where counterprotesters were located in order to avoid conflict. But, the Post noted, a night of violent confrontations involving the extremist group in 2020 calls that into question.

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Shane Lamond, MPD Lieutenant Under Investigation For Ties to Proud Boys, Accused of Time Theft Two Years Ago - Washington City Paper