Detroit's Police Chief Ralph Godbee was suspended after a jilted mistress lashed out on Twitter in a sex scandal that has rocked the city. WDIV's Karen Drew reports.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Tuesday suspended the city's police chief and ordered a full investigation into claims that the senior cop dated a female internal affairs officer in the department.
Police Chief Ralph Godbee Junior, who is married, is the latest Detroit city leader to face accusations of a sexual relationship with a subordinate, including Godbee's?immediate predecessor, Warren Evans, and former?Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
"After learning of the allegations regarding Chief Ralph Godbee, I have placed him on a 30-day suspension pending a full and thorough investigation of this matter," Bing said in a statement.
Assistant Chief Chester Logan assumed the duties and responsibilities of police chief in the interim, Bing said.
A police spokesman declined to comment on the suspension. Godbee could not be reached immediately for comment.
Court records show that Godbee filed for divorce in August and that a settlement conference has been scheduled for Nov. 26.
NBC station WDIV reported the internal affairs officer involved was Angelica Robinson, a 17-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department.
Lawyer: Officer contemplated suicide
Robinson, who is also married, told the station that she was in a sexual relationship with Godbee for more than a year.
"If he is a man of God, he will tell the truth," she added. "I truly apologize to his wife and my husband."
Robinson's attorney, David Robinson, also told WDIV that she had tried to break off the affair and Godbee was ?disenchanted with rejection and so he continues to make overtures to promising that everything is going to be OK.?
Rebecca Cook / Reuters, file
Police Chief Ralph Godbee, pictured on Jan. 6, has been suspended amid claims of an affair with an officer.
?It got to the point of the crescendo of contemplated suicide,? the lawyer said. ?So, absolutely the pressure got to her.?
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Godbee succeeded Evans in mid-2010 after Evans resigned in part due to fallout from an alleged affair with a subordinate, and one day after a local television station aired an excerpt from a video pitch he made for a possible reality TV show.
Kilpatrick, who is on trial now on public corruption charges, pleaded guilty in 2008 to obstruction of justice and resigned from office after prosecutors alleged he lied in a civil lawsuit to conceal an affair with his chief of staff.
The city of Detroit is in financial crisis and has made deep cuts in city services.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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