City of Wilmington Police Chief: Donny Williams

There’s a liability in the WPD that negatively impacts citizens and damages community perception of you and
your organization. I’ve lived in Wilmington for 16 years. I’m a 60-yr old college-educated man raised in a 2-
parent, 3-child single-family home. My parents were married for 60 years until one died. Both parents
worked as I grew up in a family-oriented community much like many found in Wilmington. I had a wonderful
childhood and thrived in a home full of love and nurture by law-abiding parents. I had faith in “truth and
justice” and grew up with morals instilled by my parents, teachers, the boy scouts, and TV shows that
displayed the good done by police. I was influenced by tv shows like CHiPS, Superman, Adam-12, Dragnet,
NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues, and Law & Order. I watched those shows with belief in characters’ integrity and
the message of Good over evil. Over past decades of “instant global news” stories exposed questionable
shootings of unarmed citizens, use of excessive force, police misconduct, and convicts released after years of
imprisonment due to corrupt attorneys or police that arrested and prosecuted innocent citizens. Often
irrefutable forensic evidence exonerates railroaded inmates. This abuse of power and social unrest in
communities is exacerbated when improper unethical actions by a member of the police, DA’s office, or
judicial staff are exposed yet there is no formal acknowledgement or rectification. Often when a convict is
released due to overwhelming forensic exculpatory evidence…the police or district attorney responsible for
the conviction state their continued belief that they did the right thing. Such hubris and disregard for
irrefutable facts and their failure to admit that they or one among them had done wrong or made a mistake
only fuels public mistrust of “the system”. When any official does not acknowledge that anyone can make a
mistake and that they or their staff could have; they lose the respect and trust of the very public they are
responsible to serve. Can a community trust an agency that does not look into questionable behavior by one
of its own; choosing instead to ignore and cover-up foul acts with false and misleading statements? In any
group there are competent, beneficial, proficient, and ethical members. But statistics show any group will also
have a subset of incompetent, unethical, ill-trained, or corrupt members. Bad-seed members give a group a
bad reputation and cause harm within a community. Bad-seed members should be weeded out when their
unethical actions are exposed. Our community’s mistrust of New Hanover County Schools recently exploded
after years of furtive actions by the NHCS administration. Mistrust of WPD and the DA’s office can erupt too if
inappropriate or misleading actions by officers and those in charge are realized by the community. Therein
lies the liability I feel you should be aware of, investigate, and mitigate.

If you google “James Bader Wilmington NC” you will find two stories; by Port City Daily and one broadcast on
the WECT 6 o’clock news last June; that outline my horrific experience with the local criminal justice system.
This event was catalyzed by incompetent and unethical actions of WPD detective Peter Oehl.
<link to the two stories>
WPD detective Peter Oehl’s deposition taken October 2018 was one of 21 depositions that I have in electronic
form; transcribed and videotaped. I challenge you to watch/read Oehl’s deposition and conclude that this
detective displays a level of education, knowledge, and work-ethic that the Wilmington police department
should expect from any WPD officer. Oehl’s deposition reveals an unbelievable lack of file notes, knowledge,
and recollection of key items any competent officer should have. I am embarrassed for Wilmington to have
this man on the police force and believe citizens will be equally disappointed.
Professional law-enforcement expert, Dave Cloutier, assessed Oehl’s education, experience, and actions
surrounding my arrest. That report is alarming and should be read by anyone that has Peter Oehl in their
employ. I can provide that report to anyone who requests it. Detective Oehl’s attorney got his own report by
Joseph Kennedy of Blueline Training; that trains WPD staff. Mr. Kennedy’s report is biased in support of Oehl’s
actions in spite of the deficits identified by Mr. Cloutier. It is worth reading both reports to draw your own
conclusions but the obvious conflict of interest by Blueline taints its integrity and reliability. Mr. Kennedy
provided an expert report for 2 other noteworthy North Carolina cases in the last 5 years which were settled
for enormous amounts against municipalities. I list those cases in my footnotes #1.

The overwhelming evidence gathered for my civil case against detective Oehl reveals alarming actions taken
by a man that I believe acted for personal agenda rather than an ethical quest for justice using prudent law-
enforcement policies. It is apparent from the evidence there was malice behind my arrest by Oehl who failed
to follow all possible investigative avenues and focused on ‘guilty until proven innocent’. This detective made
an arrest in spite of a judge’s contrary determination after two years of presiding over my divorce and custody
battle and in spite of a court-appointed counselor finding parental alienation of the only accuser involved.

DA Ben David and WPD chief Evangelous said Oehl had the right to arrest me because of “probable cause” due
to stated allegations. That accuser was revealed by a court-appointed counselor, a year prior to making those
allegations, to be alienated and “in an unholy alliance with her mother against” the man she accused. I say
probable cause was diminished 7 months prior to the arrest when a judge found the accuser’s allegations not
credible in a DSS civil-court hearing in August 2014. Oehl testified at that hearing yet ignored the judge’s
findings and didn’t divulge those findings to the magistrate when he sought my arrest warrants. Oehl did NOT
reveal to the magistrate that hearing even took place. That magistrate stated that had she been made aware
of the judge’s ruling 7 months prior to Oehl filing for arrest warrants; she would NOT have issued warrants. I
contend that is precisely why Oehl did not provide those facts in his petition for arrest warrants. Oehl was
determined to arrest me and feared not obtaining arrest warrants if he divulged those facts to the magistrate.

Questions I hope you’ll consider about Oehl’s actions involve the reasoning supporting an arrest.

1. Did the detective have a reasonable purpose to justify the arrest? In his deposition Oehl himself stated he
made the arrest as if it was a coin toss of what to do…simply to get the case “off of my desk”.
2. What was the goal of the arrest? Why take a fruitless action that would destroy a man’s life and make that
man and his family suffer through damages for years? I believe Oehl acted out of malice; to cause harm to me
and remove me from the custody battle I was winning. Oehl arrested me to help my ex-wife after she nagged
him with cries for help via phone calls and emails. Discovery in my civil case provides records of emails and
30-minute phone calls between Oehl and my ex-wife yet they both denied such lengthy communication in
their depositions. Detective Oehl stated in his testimony at the civil-court hearing 7 months prior to the arrest
that he would not arrest me until forensic evidence was returned (electronics and DNA) by order of the DA
office and that had he arrested me (w/o such evidence) it could look like he had a vendetta. Oehl used the word
“vendetta” and I believe that Freudian slip revealed his true intentions and feelings. Oehl arrested me with no
more evidence than existed 7 months prior at the DSS hearing. No new evidence had been discovered to
support an arrest. Oehl had not even performed any further investigation for the 7 months after the DSS hearing
case dismissal.
3. In his interview with Ann McAdams, DA David stated police don’t need his permission to make an arrest. In
his deposition ADA Oehrlein stated he never told Oehl to arrest or to wait to make an arrest. Oehl testified he
was waiting to arrest by order of the DA office. Who’s lying?

4. Did Oehl perform a thorough investigation that logically lead to an arrest according to NC standards? Even
after a judge found the accuser had no credibility on her allegations Oehl didn’t’ review the two years of civil
court divorce/custody litigation prior to the allegations being made against me. A custody battle that my ex-
wife was losing and where a court-appointed counselor determined alienation of the accuser (my daughter)
who was in an “unholy alliance with her mother against Mr. Bader”. The only evidence Oehl had was the word
of a confused, angry, and upset 16-yr old girl who was brain-washed by her mom against her father during a
high-conflict divorce. The rape accusations came two years after the divorce and custody battle began and
after other allegations which grew in intensity of offence failed to achieve results. The rape allegations were
made just two weeks after I filed a motion to have the accuser removed from her mother’s home.
5. Oehl is a detective and should exhibit a level of professionalism and experience commensurate with his
elevated title and role in the police department. The law-enforcement expert report states Oehl exhibited a
lack of the required skills to perform and document basic steps of an investigation. Is this type of detective
what the City of Wilmington allows to represent its law enforcement officers? Oehl arrested another man,
Ronnie Smith, on similar charges under similar false-allegation circumstances 3 months after me. That case
was also dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Mr. Smith suffered eight months in the county jail. One
detective; two similar bogus arrests and dismissed cases! I imagine other cases filed by Oehl are similarly
unnecessary with less-than-desirable outcomes. https://www.wect.com/story/29364869/wilmington-police-arrest-
man-on-child-sex-crime-charges/ I plan to research every case Oehl has worked on subsequent to my arrest to expose
other unjustified arrests.

6. Did the arrest achieve justice? Oehl knew there would be no successful prosecution if any at all. He was
told by ADA Lance Oehrlein and WPD’s Michael Tenney & Thomas Tilmon not to arrest. Yet Oehl sought an
arrest on his own accord. His action was designed to cause detriment to me financially and socially…to disrupt
and impact the custody battle as a possible favor to my ex-wife. It was obvious there would be no prosecution
or trial…yet Oehl arrested me to put me in jail for a long time under an unbearable million-dollar bond while
the case would drag on. Oehl arrested me to cause my loss of a job and income…to cripple me financially and
to force a custody reversal of a 3rd grade daughter who was in my primary custody. I was arrested after the
DSS attempt to switch custody failed seven months earlier after a four-day hearing…where Oehl committed
perjury to obscure the lack of substantial evidence found. ***Outline of perjury by Oehl is in Footnotes #2***
Oehl sought no form of justice outside of his own malice and agenda. He arrested me for the sake of arresting
me; to show that he had the power to do so. Oehl did have a vendetta…against a man he believed committed
a crime but had no evidence to get a conviction…but he could arrest me and ruin my life to placate his ego.

WPD Chief Evangelous ignored the wrongful acts of WPD detective Oehl in WECT’s story.
*** “Despite a business decision by the City’s insurance carrier to enter into a settlement with Mr. Bader,”
Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said in a prepared statement emailed to WECT. “The WPD is
confident that probable cause existed, and therefore no adverse personnel action was taken against Det. Oehl
as a result of his decision to take out warrants in this case.” The WPD tells us that they have not changed any
of their policies or guidelines to avoid similar issues and liability following future arrests. ****
WPD said PC existed and that justified the arrest ignoring the circumstances that surrounded the allegations.
WPD did not address why Oehl did not inform the magistrate about the previous court hearing regarding the
same allegations in the arrest warrant petition NOR the outcome of that hearing.
TRUTH: the validity of the PC was compromised since a judge found, IN COURT, the accuser and her
statements to be NOT CREDIBLE when she testified in the DSS hearing 7 months prior to the arrest.
Important to know that the judge that heard and ruled on the 4-day DSS hearing had heard the entire
multitude of hearings of my divorce and custody battle for the 2 years prior to the rape allegations. That
judge, Judge Jeffrey Noecker, had met in his chambers with the accuser in August 2013 5 months prior to the
accuser making the rape allegations. Judge Noecker knew the family history intimately and recognized the
alienation done to that accuser/daughter. Yet Oehl seemingly disregarded the entire history of family court
hearings and judge Noecker’s findings over the 2 years prior to the rape allegations being made.
If Oehl believed he had PC based on those allegations in spite of the judge’s ruling; why did he neglect to
inform the magistrate of the DSS hearing and result? What does it tell our community if the Chief of Police
doesn’t recognize the fact that an insurance company found the evidence in the civil case compelling enough
to fear the outcome of that case enough to force them to spend $500, 000 to settle the case and avoid a trial.
The insurance company had already spent at least $150,000 in legal expenses prior to settling. And yet Chief
Evangelous did not even look internally at the acts of his detective involved in the civil case. Acts by Oehl were
questionable enough to cost the city over a half of a million dollars. I’m sure it will be helpful for defendants
in future cases involving Oehl to know the history of Oehl’s questionable actions in the Bader case and the
subsequent settlement due to his actions. Perhaps this issue pertaining to detective Oehl is relevant to the
Brady-Giglio policy the DA’s office is well aware of.

I have seen and admire your recent actions after becoming the Chief of WPD to establish and maintain an
ethical police force. I applaud your dedication and ask you to check this detective’s handling of my case as
well as Ronnie Smith’s case. There may be others in the past that fall under the same umbrella of Oehl’s
questionable actions. I hope there’s no more in the future. Oehl took actions that abused his authority…with
malice and indifference to a judge’s rulings and NO goal of ethical duty. A considerable amount of Oehl’s acts
concerning the Bader case were described by the expert’s report as “less than acceptable for a competent
officer and in some regards, not in accordance with an officer’s duty or responsibility”.

Oehl’s actions caused financial loss and catalyzed a sustained future loss of income, ability to gain a job, and
reputational damage. But finances were just one aspect of damages. I suffered 15 months with no contact
with my young daughter…her Daddy was just gone suddenly from her life. I suffered social scorn and continue
to suffer that today. I suffer from PTSD symptoms…memories of misery, depression, pain, and sorrow that I
endured for 15 months and many months after the case was dismissed as well as my incarceration.
It is well-known that the best forecast of someone’s behavior and actions is how they’ve acted and behaved in
the past. Oehl was less than forthcoming of the facts in his petition to the magistrate to obtain the arrest
warrants he desired. Oehl was less than honest in court on the stand as he perjured in front of Judge Noecker in
my DSS hearing. Oehl’s actions of arresting me for no reason and arresting Mr. Smith with no supportive
evidence demonstrate Oehl’s over-zealous and hasty actions that damage Wilmington citizens for no ethical
reason with no regard. Oehl is a threat to the community he lurks within carrying a badge of authority to do as
he pleases at the expense of innocent citizens. At what point and after how many unjustified arrests will Oehl’s
actions be recognized by WPD as the offenses they truly are?
FOOTNOTES:
**1: Blue Line expert Joseph Kennedy provided a report to defend police actions in these cases:
2015/2017: Timothy Scott Bridges vs City of Charlotte: wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for over 25 years
for rape; exonerated and won 9.5 million AND was formally pardoned by Governor Pat McCrory
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/jul/5/north-carolina-prisoner-exonerated-rape-collects-95-
million-settlement/

2014/2016: Willie James Grimes vs city of Hickory: wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for 24 years for
rape; exonerated and awarded 5.5 million
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article97691567.html
AND 2nd part of settlement paid
https://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/exonerated-man-to-receive-additional-million/article_ff62d86c-1909-
11e9-8deb-b7bfe02e10e5.html

**2: Detective Oehl perjured on July 29th, 2014 at the DSS hearing against James Bader.
Details: Oehl removed property (flash drives, digital cameras <still and video>, computers, cell-phones) and
papers from my home on 2/4/2014 and took my DNA swab 6 weeks later. Most of the electronics had been
examined by late April 2014 and possessed nothing incriminating.
The DNA evidence was submitted to match my DNA to what Oehl believed to be semen stains on my elder
daughter’s mattress which he took a cutting from. All DNA samples were submitted to the state lab on April
8th, 2014.
The result was that the mattress sample did not indicate any presence of semen.
The 7-page DNA report was returned to Oehl via email July 8th, 2014. (pg. 86 of Oehl’s investigation file part 1)
The report indicated there was no DNA evidence to support Oehl’s case of rape.
Oehl should have been waiting to see the DNA results and checking to see it as soon as it came. Oehl should
have checked for the result report just prior to his day in court to testify on behalf of the DSS case against me.
Oehl was asked while on the stand July 29th, 2014 about the DNA test submitted and he stated the results had
NOT come back from the lab yet. Oehl was also asked about the electronics confiscated and he replied no
results had been provided to him yet. Oehl did testify that he was confident that crime lab results supporting his
case would be returned. Oehl had already seen results of a majority of the electronics (flash drives, digital
cameras & video-cameras, computers, and cell phones) which indicated NO presence of any evidence to
support his theory that I was a pedophile…or that I had harmed or abused my daughter in any way. Oehl was
not forthcoming and lied on the stand to avoid presenting such exculpatory evidence. I am confident that Oehl
perjured on the stand that day. The very next morning as soon as the hearing began the DSS attorney, Dean
Hollandsworth, informed the court that Oehl had contacted him (Hollandsworth) the night before (just hours
after he’d testified in court) to let Mr. Hollandsworth know the DNA results had come back and were negative
for any evidence. In his deposition for my civil case Mr. Hollandsworth stated he immediately informed the
court the next morning because “I’m not going to hide crap from anybody”. Oehl basically had no evidence to
support the case against me and yet with that very same lack of evidence he arrested me 7 months later.