Ex-Maui police officer pleads not guilty to drug, theft charges
By Melissa Tanji
Maui News
WAILUKU — Former Maui police officer Allison Moore pleaded not guilty yesterday to 25 charges, including deceiving the department, tampering with evidence, drug possession and forging doctors' notes.
Moore, 28, who resigned from the department Sept. 16, was out of custody yesterday. She posted $150,000 bail after she was booked at the Wailuku Police Station on March 16.
She has worked in the Lanai and Lahaina patrol districts and was a vice officer for about a year before her resignation. She began working for the department Aug. 16, 2004.
In her initial appearance in 2nd Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Richard Bissen granted conditions of bail requested by Moore's attorney, Robert Rivera. One of those conditions allows Moore to reside on Oahu.
Rivera said Moore will be participating in drug treatment and other types on treatment on Oahu and will be looking for a job there. Moore will reside with her mother.
Rivera told the court Moore's last residence was in New Mexico, and she has been on Maui ever since she came back to answer to the charges.
Moore was arrested on a warrant in Albuquerque, N.M.
Deputy Prosecutor Lewis Littlepage questioned the need for Moore to stay on Oahu and receive treatment.
But Bissen noted that Moore waived extradition in the first place and is moving back to Hawaii. She also has posted a $150,000 bail bond, he added.
On the issue of whether Moore needs drug treatment, Bissen pointed out that she is facing seven drug charges. The judge said Moore doesn't appear to be a danger to the community.
According to the indictment, all of the charges against Moore occurred when she was with the Maui Police Department. The alleged incidents occurred in 2006, 2008 and 2009, court records show.
Maui Police Chief Gary Yabuta yesterday said it would be "unethical" to comment on the case. Police have concluded their investigation, he said.
But Yabuta did offer some thoughts about Moore.
"We are dealing with a former police officer that has some deep-seeded personal issues to resolve," he said. "We hope that she will be able to overcome her obstacles to once again have a productive life."
Among the 25 charges listed in the indictment, Moore is charged with attempted first-degree theft for trying to obtain or exert control over monetary benefits by deception from a Police Department leave-sharing program. The amount involved exceeded $20,000.
She is also charged with possessing crystal methamphetamine, tampering with physical evidence and forging doctors' notes from Dr. Michael Carney and Dr. Michael Milder as well as a a chiropractic status note from a Dale Stellar, court records show.
Without naming the officer, the Maui Police Department reported earlier this year that an officer was disciplined for being untruthful and falsifying documents to receive employee leave benefits. The report noted that after an investigation that was concluded in December, the discipline ordered was termination from employment but that the officer had resigned.
In the months before her resignation, a "Friends of Allison Moore" bank account was set up after reports that she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in November 2008 and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in February 2009, according to a plea for donations for two fundraisers for her that were planned in West Maui last year. Another beneficiary was selected for one of the fundraisers, and the other — a planned Sept. 1 dinner with entertainment and a silent auction at a Kaanapali hotel — was canceled.
Plate-lunch sales and other fundraisers were held for Moore at the Wailuku Police Station, and some employees had donated their leave benefits to her. In July, police said Moore had been on unpaid leave from her job for about a month.
Moore's trial is scheduled for June 7.
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