Tucson Weekly: A Father's Fight (December 23

By If You're A Cop's Drug-Using Wife, Perhaps The Deck Is Stacked In Your Favor?
Vicki Hart
AND NOW FOR the rest of the story... In early October headlines in local newspapers read, "Cop's Wife Jailed In Drug Case," and, "Cop's Wife Faces Drug Counts, Husband Apparently Unaware."
But not only was Tucson Police Officer John Kragnes aware that his wife, Lynette, had a drug problem, so were Tucson Police Department Internal Affairs investigators, as well as Child Protective Services social workers, various courts, assorted lawyers, some local school officials, a number of psychologists and sundry others.
That's because, over the course of several years, Lynette Kragnes' son, as well as her ex-husband, had told them all.
Currents Because her son and former husband are victims and have suffered serious emotional distress, we've agreed not to use their real names as we tell their story. Another matter we should disclose is the fact that Lynette Kragnes' former husband is employed at the Tucson Weekly; thus, this rag's editors have heard this sorry tale unfold as it happened.
FOR SEVERAL YEARS Jerry, now 12, had been trying to tell anyone who'd listen that his mother was abusing him and using illegal drugs. Instead of treating it as a criminal matter, however, the boy's stepfather, and the Tucson Police Department he works for, chose to look the other way.
They also ignored the complaints of Lynette's ex-husband, Mitch, apparently believing he only wanted custody of his son.
In fact, instead of listening to Jerry or Mitch, Tucson Police arrested Mitch--twice--for merely trying to exercise his visitation rights. After charges were subsequently dismissed in court, Mitch tried to talk to TPD Internal Affairs about what was going on, only to be rebuffed and told TPD wasn't going to fight his custody battle for him.
In May 1998, after years of court battles and as much as $20,000 in attorney's fees, Mitch was granted permanent physical custody of his son; however the boy was still forced to visit his mother on Wednesdays after school and every other weekend. Although Mitch was relieved to have been granted custody, he's bitter that Jerry was forced to live a nightmare for many years.
Lynette and Mitch had their son in 1986 and were divorced in 1988. Before the divorce was final, Lynette met Tucson Police Officer John Kragnes when she called police over an employment dispute.
Within weeks of meeting Kragnes, she became pregnant with his child, a son. They later married and had a second son.
Soon after her first marriage broke up, Lynette balked at letting Mitch see his son. At one point she denied him visitation for two months.
THEN THINGS GOT really down and dirty.
Once Lynette called Mitch and said he could have visitation with Jerry, but when he arrived at her home, she demanded his auto insurance papers and ordered him not to come back without them; she told their crying son he couldn't go with his father. Mitch returned with the papers and rang the doorbell. There was no answer, and he left. A mile down the road, three police cars pulled Mitch over and arrested him on domestic violence charges.
The arresting officers said Lynette had accused him of slamming her arm in a gate. Mitch spent the night in jail. A judge quickly dismissed this case.
In February 1993, with no discussion or forewarning, Mitch received an Affidavit of Parental Consent for Adoption pertaining to Jerry. Alarmed, Mitch immediately wrote the court stating he would not consider letting John Kragnes adopt his son.
Meanwhile, Jerry's living situation continued to deteriorate. Mitch felt helpless as Lynette allowed Jerry to miss roughly 50 days of school in his kindergarten year. The boy also complained of being called names, including racial remarks (his father is Hispanic). Lynette was also denying Jerry his right to talk with his father over the phone. A mediation session Mitch requested lasted an hour and a half before Lynette stood up and announced that she hated him.
On April 2, 1994, Mitch misread his custody documents and went to the Kragneses' home for visitation on the wrong day. He was told to return the next day, which he did.
When he rang the doorbell, no one responded, although he could hear voices. He eventually left to call the police. When officers responded, Mitch found that the Kragneses had called the police, too; and after an hour and a half of standing in the street discussing the situation with Officer Tom Carlson and Officer Terrance McCarthy, TPD records show that McCarthy contacted the Kragneses and a Det. Ferdinand Redlaczyk and a Sgt. Frank Solis, who then "called me back and advised me that he (Mitch) should be arrested for DV/trespass and violation of a court order.... Suspect standing on victim's property from 18:05 to 18:12 P.M. ringing doorbell and creating a disturbance."
Mitch spent the next 24 hours in Pima County Jail.
Once again the case was quickly dismissed. The judge called it "ridiculous."
But during the hearing Mitch was able to hear a 911 tape of Lynette calling the police and claiming her husband, Officer John Kragnes, had pulled a loaded gun and was standing by the door as Mitch rang the bell.
On two other visits, even though Mitch went to the extraordinary lengths of bringing his mother with him, parking across the street and honking to pick up Jerry, Lynette called the police. As a result, Mitch was cited for violation of a court order that he not set foot on the Kragneses property. This charge, too, was quickly dismissed in court.
Mitch says he began to feel the police were definitely biased. His attorney, Robert Barrasso, wrote TPD Capt. Tony Dakin to complain about the cops' inappropriate conduct. At this point it seemed that the police backed off and the citations stopped.
About this time, however, Jerry began displaying serious signs of stress and fear, and was asking not to have to be with his mother. Taken to counseling with a local psychologist, he revealed signs of emotional, physical and psychological abuse to the psychologist, who documented his sessions with the child.
On August 28, 1995, Tucson Police Officer John Kragnes slapped Jerry in the face, giving him a bloody nose. He also whipped him with a leather belt, causing bruises and welts on his buttocks and leg.
Kragnes subsequently turned himself in to TPD's Internal Affairs and was charged with "child abuse, non-death or serious injury, a Class 4 felony." He was suspended from work.
Kragnes was allowed to plead guilty to child abuse/domestic violence, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and received 18 months of unsupervised probation. He returned to work.
FOR AWHILE, AT least, things seemed to smooth out. But in March 1996 the boy reported his stepfather pulled his hair in anger. According to transcripts, the boy told his psychologist, "About a week ago he [Officer Kragnes] violated his probation. "He was not allowed to touch me for 18 months and he pulled me by the hair and dragged me over to where him and my mom were."
The boy reported having to wait outside his mother's home while Lynette and John Kragnes slept. Jerry told his father about finding what appeared to be drug paraphernalia at his mother's home.
In February 1997, Jerry alleged to his teacher that his stepfather bumped him with his body and pushed him across the room, where his mom struck him in the face and gave him a bloody nose. The school reported this to Child Protective Services; TPD was informed.
According to TPD Det. Jim Beede's March 4, 1997, report, Jerry "believes his mother is using this pipe to smoke out of. He stated he saw his mother get some green stuff from a family friend. He stated he thinks he knows what marijuana looks like, but doesn't know what it smells like."
Beede later took additional statements--over the phone--from the boy, Officer Kragnes and Lynette. They all told him that "nothing had happened," according to his report. When Beede questioned Officer Kragnes about drug use, "He stated that he never saw the suspect [Lynette Kragnes] hit the victim. He stated that he does not use marijuana nor does the suspect. He stated that he has no knowledge of a crack pipe."
When Beede contacted Jerry again, this time at his school, the boy told the detective that his mother had tried to convince him to change his story (thus his having said on the phone, when his mom and stepfather were present, that nothing had happened), and he went back to his original story.
Eventually, Deputy County Attorney Howard Fell reviewed the case and, according to the police report, "refused to issue any charges." No reason was given, and the case was closed.
By this time Mitch was frantic. He says Jerry was suicidal, angry and scared. The school began noting behavioral problems. The boy continued to allege abuse at the Kragnes' home, as well as his mother's drug use. Jerry alleged being locked out of the house, cussed at, taunted, and threatened with institutionalization.
Mitch called Beede and pleaded with him to investigate thoroughly what Jerry was claiming, especially the drug use. He says Beede replied, "I'll have you know I won't fight your custody battle," and suggested Mitch get a lawyer.
Mitch then tried calling TPD Sgt. Brett Klein and Sharon Allen, an investigator with Internal Affairs. His pleas went nowhere. He called Child Protective Services and spoke to caseworker David Berreras, and he even took Jerry to speak with caseworker Mary Veth. Nothing happened.
Mitch took Jerry back to his school and spoke with the school social worker, Tim Musty, who reported the interview to CPS. Musty could do no more than make the report and counsel the child. He says it's out of his hands what CPS does or doesn't do.
In March 1997, at the end of his rope, Mitch talked to a Tucson Weekly reporter. That same month, the reporter called TPD Lt. Rich Harper and Sgt. Ed Dobberton and reported the alleged child abuse and Jerry's claims of his mother's drug use. The reporter also called CPS Supervisor Rob Ameln. No actions resulted from these calls.
The reporter did no story because Mitch began to fear publication would
make matters worse for his son, who was still in Lynette Kragnes' custody.
Instead, worried sick about Jerry's physical and mental health, Mitch began the expensive process of pursuing full physical custody. He took the boy to another psychologist in May 1997, to whom Jerry described having "really big, big troubles with my other family," and said he'd been called a "lying bastard" and had been made to strip and lie in bed from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
By December 1997, Mitch was able to get temporary physical custody of his son. Lynette was supposed to have visitation with Jerry on Wednesdays and every other weekend.
During 1997 Jerry alleged increased drug use on his mom's part and reported finding her drug paraphernalia hidden in a spool of yarn. He describes his mother sleeping through many of his visits, or not being present at all. On a February 16, 1998, visit Jerry says his mother and brothers were gone the whole time he was there and neither he nor his stepfather knew where they were. He describes having to go to work with John Kragnes, who was moonlighting as security guard. Jerry says he wound up sleeping in a leasing office.
ON APRIL 16, an unknown party filed a report with TPD against Lynette Kragnes on behalf of her children. It alleged "the victims' mother is leaving the victims home alone while she goes out to get her drugs."
Once again the investigator was Det. Jim Beede. According to Beede's report, once again Jerry described finding "a leather case which had glass tubes and a pack of marijuana."
According to the report, the case was reviewed by Sgt. Brett Klein and "the inconsistencies in the children's statements negated any criminal prosecution reference child abuse or related offenses. The narcotics issue is being forwarded to Internal Affairs."
However, the report also notes, "...that Lynette and John Kragnes were uncooperative with CPS and that CPS substantiated the risk of potential neglect."
Mitch tried to bring Lynette into court-ordered mediation. Two times she failed to show. The third time she came and was obviously on drugs, according to Mitch. The mediation went nowhere.
Mitch took Jerry to another psychologist, who wrote to Pima County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem John Franklin: "The (boy) is clear that he continues to prefer to live with his father. He believes he has been physically abused by both his mother and his stepfather. (He) believes his mother may have a substance-abuse problem. He said she has disappeared for two or three days at a time with no explanation. (He) says he has found marijuana pipes belonging to his mother. She has become angry with (him) and has stated that she does not want anything to do with him."
The letter was presented at a June 1998 review hearing to Pima County Superior Court Judge John Quigly, who did not read it, instead ordering it sealed and stipulating that it was to be opened only by court order, due to statements by Lynette's attorney, Joseph Riley Jr., disputing its accuracy.
Mitch maintains the only factual error in the letter was that the psychologist cited the wrong date for a visitation.
As recently as Labor Day 1998, when Mitch went to pick up his son, Lynette refused to let him go. Mitch called the police, and when they arrived, Lynette slammed the door on the officers.
Even though Mitch had the custody order, the police chose to do nothing. John Kragnes told his fellow police officers that he was willing to go along with the order, but he added his hands were tied because of his wife. The cops left without doing anything.
The week before Lynette's arrest, Jerry reported that while he was staying at his mother's, two men had come knocking at his bedroom window in the middle of the night. He says that John Kragnes told Lynette to go out and talk to them.
So it was almost a relief when, on September 30, 1998, John Kragnes called Mitch to say Lynette had been arrested for selling drugs. News accounts said the drugs allegedly involved were believed to be cocaine and crack.
News reports also quoted a TPD spokeswoman, Sgt. Judy Altieri, as saying Officer John Kragnes was "shocked."
When asked to comment on why the Tucson Police Department did nothing with the allegation that a cop's wife had a drug problem, TPD spokesman Sgt. Brett Klein claims he remembers Mitch's complaints as "a custody case." Klein offers, "It's a leap to say we knew about this...There's a difference of what we know and what we can prove, and then raising it to the level of criminality."
Klein also says that since it was a custody case, "You have to take into account the pressures that might have been put on the child." He notes that there were "inconsistencies in the children's statements" in various police reports. He also says Lynette Kragnes was investigated for issues of neglect and abuse, and points out that the County Attorney couldn't find sufficient evidence to prosecute. Klein is unaware of whether there is, or ever has been, an Internal Affairs investigation of Officer John Kragnes.
At the time of her arrest, 5-foot-1-inch Lynette Kragnes weighed 80 pounds and was described by those who saw her as an "emaciated mess."
TPD officials will not say how she came to be arrested--whether she was the target of an ongoing investigation, or whether she merely stumbled into a common street bust. This week, TPD ignored a request by Mitch's attorney for information regarding the events leading up to Lynette's arrest.
NOW LET'S get this straight: For years a young boy told just about anyone who'd listen about his mother's alleged drug use. On several occasions he complained to police officers. His complaints are documented in public school reports, psychological profiles, and even in police reports. Child Protective Services workers have heard his allegations on more than one occasion.
The boy's stepfather, Tucson Police Officer John Kragnes, turned himself in for child abuse for whipping the boy with a belt and causing him a bloody nose. Yet Kragnes continued working as a Tucson Police Officer while on probation for the child abuse.
The boy continued to make allegations of abuse by his stepfather and his mother.
Stay with us here....
Several Tucson police officers, a detective or two, a sergeant, a lieutenant, Internal Affairs investigators, and who knows who else, had access to this information. And yet the Tucson Police Department issues a statement that it doesn't appear that Officer John Kragnes knew about his wife's drug use?
Furthermore, John Kragnes continues to serve as an officer in good standing with the Tucson Police Department?
What's wrong with this picture?

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